ROYAL INFANT MONIKER-MYSTERY ABOUT SPORTS ATHLETES
LONDON, England (CNN)…Souvenir makers and vendors of commemorative mugs, bibs, baby clothes, plates, cups and pint glasses waited last July with baited breath and had employees on stand-by, ready to scramble, while waiting to learn the gender of Kate’s regal not-yet-born child! Soon thereafter, the blueblood son was born and named George Alexander Louis. Fans of Seinfeld rejoiced and aforementioned-merchandise was emblazoned with the title. But, it wasn’t until the October 23 christening that other names being considered were revealed, giving a look into the mindset of the parents. Among the possibilities reportedly were…George Hermann Ruth, George Foreman (who named all his kids “George”), Jeff George, George Blanda, George Steinbrenner (again, a cheer went up from Seinfeld faithful), George Carlin and George Brett, which would have been a sticky wicket. Said one man-servant on condition of anonymity, “There was a brief thought about ‘Charles’… not for the prince of the same name, but rather as in…’Barkley’…We woulda’ called the pudgy-cherub…the crowned pound of rebound!”
Vindicator, who apparently channeled “George of Da’ Jungle” last week, going a mere 9-9 (77-69-4, .527) and will spend the upcoming fortnight fending-off ghosts at the Tower of London, has realized even the Buckingham Palace guards visibly shudder when presented with…
THE WEBER KID’S 2013 WEEK 10 FORECAST
(“This isn’t da’ Junior Chamber of Commerce, Brad!”)
THURS. OCT. 31
WASHINGTON STATE (+11) over #25 Arizona State: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Yeah, yeah…our preferred selections in games involving ranked teams are on 0-5-1 downward-spiral since beginning 3-0. And it’s Thursday night to-boot! We get it! But this has shoot-out written all over it…and maybe the upset…with both Pitchforks’ defeats coming away from Tempe. First choice is “over”, then...ASU 45 Wazzou 41
SAT. NOV. 2
#1 Alabama: IDLE (next vs. LSU)
#2 Oregon: IDLE (next 11/7 @ Stanford)
#7 Miami (+21) over #3 FLORIDA STATE: Miami hasn’t beaten FSU since 2009, but did lose just 23-19 during 2011’s trip to Tallahassee. ‘Canes come in off near-disaster vs. Wake Forest while Seminoles have outscored last three opponents by combined 163-31, including 37-point win at Clemson. Stephen Morris will throw into nation’s best pass D, but Miami ain’t shabby there either. DA’ U needs to stay on the ground and avoid turnovers to have a shot. Two weeks ago, the Ohio State marching band pulled off nifty tribute to Michael Jackson for the anniversary of “Bad”. After recently dodging major NCAA penalties, the ‘Canes brought in those same Buckeyes musicians to perform a halftime rendition of Jacko’s “Smooth Criminal”!...’Noles 34 Miami 24
#4 Ohio State (-30 ½) over PURDUE: OSU 42 Boilermakers 7
#5 Baylor: IDLE (next 11/7 vs. Oklahoma)
#6 Stanford: IDLE (next 11/7 vs. Oregon)
#8 Auburn @ ARKANSAS: OFF. This line opened with Tigers laying 8 and we considered this for lock at that number. Soooeeey Pigs have won big the past two seasons, but this year’s Bacon has gone 1-5 SU/ATS in its past six games (and been outscored 134-17 in most recent three). Auburn could be without starting QB Nick Marshall, but will get adequate play from his back-up if needed. We doubt the bye week did enough for Arkansas to right the ship enough to make this one competitive for 60 minutes.
VIRGINIA (+17) over #9 Clemson: Tigers 31 Cavs 17
#10 MISSOURI (-11 ½) over Tennessee: Maybe a letdown spot for Mizzou, but Vols will put a freshman making his first start under center and Tennessee’s got nobody like Connor Shaw on the bench that could lead a comeback like he did vs. Missouri last week…Tigers 38 Rocky Top 23
#11 LSU: IDLE (next @ Alabama)
Texas-El Paso (+46 ½) over #12 TEXAS A&M: During post-game interviews following win over da’ Commodores last week, Manziel copped to wanting to share an evening-meal most with…Charlie Sheen, Rob Gronkowski and Tiger Woods. Nice. Two addicts and a revered Patriots tight-end. Do ya think NFL scouts have made note of Johnny’s responses fer purposes of the Combine (and we’re guessin’ a similar question has been added to the Wonderlic test!). Ironically, yer humble narrator made a cameo appearance on “30 Rock” and was offered those same three selections in a game of “Marry, Boff, Kill”. We’ll let the faithful readership decide our final order of those choices, but we’re counting on da’ A&M D to determine the spread-decision...Aggies 59 Miners 17
#13 Oklahoma: IDLE (next 11/7 @ Baylor)
#14 SOUTH CAROLINA (-13) over Mississippi State: Gamehens 35 MSU 19
#18 Oklahoma State (+2) over #15 TEXAS TECH: Critics were quick to point-out Red Raiders’ light-schedule before and after 8-point loss at Oklahoma, in which Sooners outscored Tech 17-7 in the 4th Quarter. Tech suffered its first defeat in that game and nothing else about Guns Up schedule excites us. This series has been all Oklahoma State the past three years and State’s already knocked off Mississippi State, TCU, Kansas State and Iowa State. Other than Cowpokes just-8-point halftime lead vs. ISU last week, there’s nothing that compels us to back the home-fave here, in what will be a high-scoring outing…OKSU 44 Texas Tech 37
#16 FRESNO STATE (-20 ½) over Nevada: Reno finally yielded the Fremont Cannon to UNLV for first time in nine years in tightly-contested home-loss. That was pretty-much the extent of Wolfpack’s season, needing three more wins in final games to be bowl-eligible. UNR will be dogs in all four of those. Meanwhile, Bulldogs need to hammer remaining foes to try to keep pace with Northern Illinois for BCS-buster spot. State not stellar on total-defense, as we’ve noted all along, but still 27 notches higher and showing 13 fewer offensive touchdowns-allowed. Bulldogs haven’t covered a home-game in three tries on the season vs. FBS opponents. Wolfpack just 1-3 ATS on the road, though two of those were at UCLA and Florida State…Fresno 48 UNR 23
#17 UCLA (-27 ½) over Colorado: Second choice for lock of da’ week. Bruins, who’ve been stymied the last two games vs. Stanford and Oregon, despite following a week that saw chalk dominate the Top 25, should find plenty of room vs. the visiting Bumbaloes!... UCLA 48 Colorado 14
#19 Central Florida: IDLE (next vs. Houston)
#20 Louisville: IDLE (next 11/8 @ UCONN)
UMASS (+23 ½) over #21 Northern Illinois: Tough call, but we’re staying with our first thought. NIU let off the throttle about a minute into the 4th Quarter in 39-point romp vs. Eastern Michigan, in game that wasn’t even that close, and might just pull starters early here, despite an upcoming bye prior to facing MAC-contenders Ball State and Toledo. UMass coughed up Western Michigan’s first victory on the year, at home…as three-point chalk. Minutemen have met (and lost significantly to) a number of BCS teams, but have shown a reasonable defense in conference play, going 2-2 ATS. Jordan Lynch (#12 in total individual offense) can carry the Sled Dogs by himself, but NIU’s 10-point win at Idaho, 14-point victory at Kent State and 21-pointer at Central Michigan give us some hope the Minutemen can answer the call. Could the Dogs produce “Wish I had it back” results two weeks in a row?!...NIU 37 UMass 17
#22 Wisconsin (-9 ½) over IOWA: Continuing our Rocky Horror Picture Show theme… “Say!...One of you guys know how to…’Madison’?!”…Badgers 31 Hawkeyes 20
#23 Michigan (+4 ½) over #24 MICHIGAN STATE: MINOR UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK. Spartans took home the Little Brown Jug four straight times until last season’s 12-10 loss in Ann Arbor. This one looks like it’ll come down to Michigan’s big passing game (263 yards per game) to set up its rushing touchdowns vs. State’s pass-efficiency defense (#2 nationally behind only Virginia Tech). All of Big Blew’s last 5 conference defeats have been on the road. Wolverines must protect the ball better than they have so far…Michigan 27 Michigan State 21
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
BTW, had the newest addition to the Queen Mum’s clan been a girl, her name woulda’ been “Georgia”, in honor of the UGA Bulldogs!
Acknowledging Halloween, Colorado State will host Boise State in…Ft. Barnabus Collins! (We’re also wondering which team will get thrown under the Barnabus Collins!)
With outright dubyas by Western Michigan (31-30 @ UMass) and New Mexico State (34-29 over FCS Abby Christian…yeah, they were dancin’ on the streets of Las Cruces after that one), the remaining winless FBS clubs (those without so much as a victory over even a double-A squad) thus far are (in alphabetical order)…Connecticut, Hawaii, Miami-Ohio and Southern Miss.
After initial consideration, the NY Mets decided to forego chasing June All-Star votes from a certain segment of the population that frequents CougarLife.Com (a website that features older women who prefer the company of significantly-younger guys and who made 3B David Wright their …uh… ”flavor-of-the-month” ). Given the horror of the Mets win-loss streak at the time, we think FreddyKruger.Com mighta’ been a more apropos choice of endorsements!
During Media Day festivities prior to the Super Bowl XLVII, Ravens LB Terrell Suggs serenaded attendees with Meatloaf’s “I Would Do Anything for Love”. Coulda’ been worse. He coulda’ opted for said-artist’s “Hot Patootie: Whatever Happened to Saturday Night?” from Rocky Horror Picture Show! (“’Brad!’ ‘Dr. Scott!’ ‘Janet!’ *Vindy*! ‘Rocky!’ (stare) ‘Dr. Scott!’ ‘Janet!’ *Vindy*!” ‘Adriannnnne!’ “Rocky!‘(stare) ‘Brad!’…)
Rumor has it there’s registration of a trademark-moniker known as da’ “Washington Bravehearts” on behalf of D.C.’s pro gridiron team??!! Oh sure…following accusations of racial-insensitivity/political-incorrectness, the Redskins are gonna’ switch to a nickname who’s poster-child is…Mel Gibson???!!! “They *may* take our *lives*...but they’ll never take…our free-safetyyyyyyyy!!!!”
As the most-interesting man in da’ world, Vindy doesn’t always throw his challenge-flag…but when he does… replay-officials up in da’ booth automatically reverse the call on da’ field!
Jeopardy response for da’ Sports before-and-after category for this clue: Federal closure that leads to no receptions made against this player. What is…”Government shutdown-corner???!!”
And finally…Vindy’s Picks is still easier to use than HealthCare.gov!
Black Shirt: Goes this week to Tide DB Landon Collins for a back-breakin’ 89-yard pick-six just before the intermission vs. Tennessee that ultimately led to a forecast-win instead of a push.
“Wish I Had That One Back”: We called it last week! We’d like a mulligan on Eastern Michigan +30 ½ over NIU after we changed our initial pick and but still bothered by the gaudy number of points given up recently by the Eagles.
“Locked in a Box?”: Even after Auburn lost its starting QB, the FAU Owls couldn’t stay within the number, dropping the tally (again!) to 3-5-1 (.375).
Shoppe Talk: The Seminoles and Cardinal are off da’ hook for now, but after trashing the alma mater, the Suckeyes of Ohio State are now 1-4-1 (.200). Meanwhile the Spooners of Oklahoma come in at 2-6 (.250 and on a 0-4 slide), with in-state rival Oklahoma State on notice at 2-4 (.333).
Vindy’s Week 10 Best Bets: Last Week: 3-1-1 Season: 26-14-1 (.650)
HOUSTON -17 ½ over South Florida (THURS), GEORGIA STATE +19 ½ over Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee State -4 ½ over UAB, AKRON -1 over Kent State, Tulane +4 over FLORIDA ATLANTIC, Texas-San Antonio +3 ½ over TULSA (And showin’ some intestinal fortitude this week…or at least just some intestines for Halloween…we also like: Rice +4 ½ over NORTH TEXAS [THURS], MARSHALL -28 ½ over Southern Miss, Minnesota +9 ½ over INDIANA, East Carolina -23 over FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL)
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Vindy's Picks Week 9-2013
LOCAL TRACK TO HOST GRIDIRON GAME
BRISTOL, Tennessee (REUTERS)…The Tennessee Volunteers will meet the Hokies of Virginia in September of 2016 at the local motor speedway. Both squads, however, will face unique challenges at the venue. Players must wear racecar driver helmets and will need a lot of stamina, with no time-outs being called, but players can pull into Pit Row to get water or Gatorade, and new cleats, which must be applied by equipment managers using an air-wrench. Defenses and coverage squads will be at the advantage as all crossing-patterns and kick-returns must go right-to-left. Yellow flags won’t be indicative of penalties, but rather will signal caution when athletes are injured. As a result, players on both sides must stay within their respective on-field positions while following a pace-car around the perimeter of the field until the injured player has been moved from the playing area. Following completion of the game, a designated coach or team captain can spray the winning squad with champagne or milk, as desired!
We’re still wipin’ the tire-treads off our face after Week Eight’s season-worst outing of 7-13 (68-60-4, .531), but with Danica Patrick ridin’ “shotgun”, we’re burnin’ rubber and wavin’ da’ checkered flag at…
THE WEBER KID’S 2013 WEEK 9 FORECAST
(Still beatin’ Danny Zuko and Leo Balmudo to da’ finish line!)
#1 ALABAMA (-28) over Tennessee: Tide 41 Vols 10
#2 OREGON (-23) over #12 Ucla: Both clubs absorbed their first spread-losses of the year, unfortunately for the Bruins, it came with their initial outright defeat as well. Drakes were sloppy in non-cover vs. Wazzou. UCLA couldn’t run or defend the run at Stanford. A repeat of that stat won’t produce a better ending here…Mallards 49 UCLA 24
#3 FLORIDA STATE (-31) over NC State: No letdown spot as Seminoles cruised vs. Clemson. ‘Noles have embarrassed the true contenders on the schedule thus far and history says Miami ain’t a distraction with FSU covering each of last four games prior to meeting the Hurricanes. Wolfpack has lost three of last four games SU on the season, including back-to-back defeats by Syracuse and Wake Forest?! Unless Russell Wilson hops a flight outta’ Seattle and suits-up…Da’ Chop 44 NCSU 10
Penn State (+14 ½) over #4 OHIO STATE: Lions finally found an offense against a worthy opponent in 4OT win over Michigan, who blew a 10-point mid-4th Quarter edge. We’re hopin’ that momentum carried thru the bye week to hang around long enough to cover vs. Buckeyes, who still haven’t taken a conference match this season by more than 10 after 34-24 victory vs. Iowa (who also had a bye week prior to OSU game). Nitwit Lions have allowed big points in three of last for games, Freshman QB Hackenberg makes his first trip to Da’ Shoe and 20-point defeat at Indy still haunts us, but PSU is 13-5 SU in Big Tentacle tilts the past 2+ years, so we’ll say…Ohio State 31 WE ARE 24
#20 South Carolina at #5 MISSOURI: OFF And we ain’t crushed about that! For all the success we’ve had tryin’ pick the Cacciatore ATS, we coulda’ easily just tossed a coin, best of three flips (see Shoppe Talk below). Pick ‘em to cover, they look like a Big Least squad. Pick ‘em to not cover…Shaw and Davis activate their Wonder-Twin powers and become the Oregon Ducks! Poultry did not dent the scoreboard in the 4th Quarter, but Shaw played the first 10 minutes of the final period before leaving with an injury. Tigers have beaten a division rival that had no defense (Joja’) and one last week that didn’t field an offense (Florida). SC has both, but it wouldn’t shock us if Mizzou pulled off the hat trick, even without its own starting QB.
#6 Baylor (-35) over KANSAS: Bears like to pile-on and have a bye prior to Oklahoma. Blue Birds have posted consecutive spread-wins vs. a pair of defensive-minded teams, Sooners and Froggies, the past two weeks…on the strength of plus-three turnover margins in each of those…Baylor 57 Rock Chalk 17
Wake Forest (+23) over #7 MIAMI: ‘Canes 28 Deacs 10
#8 Stanford (-4) over OREGON STATE: Trees 34 Beavers 27
#9 Clemson (-13 ½) over MARYLAND: Both teams were expected to pose at least some threat to the ‘Noles, but combined, the two suffered losses to the collective tune of 114-14. How the Tigers respond to their loss is about to be determined, but the Terps have been a mess, with a minus-six turnover ratio in 27-26 victory over struggling Virginia (2-5 SU) and 24-10 loss at Wake Forest, giving up 812 yards of offense over that span. Clemson never had a chance in 51-14 loss after gift-wrapping a pair of first quarter turnovers for Da’ Chop and Tigers coach Dabo Swinney was quoted this week as saying his boys would split a 10-game series with Florida State. That claim would gain a little cred with a cover here…CU 34 Box Turtles 17
#10 Texas Tech (+7) over #17 OKLAHOMA: UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK. Guns Up 27 Spooners 24
Florida Atlantic (+24) over #11 AUBURN: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Nice spot for an Owls’ cover…a non-SEC game sandwiched between Tigers’ closely-fought upset win over A&M and Auburn’s trip to Arkansas next week. FAU wasn’t expected to do much in 2013, but we’ve cashed a few tickets with its help and the Barnyard Birds have held their own ATS, going 6-1 to-date, including two upset victories over UAB and South Florida (as 18-point underdogs!). Under now-second year coach Carl Pelini, Owls have 13 spread-wins thus far after recording just 10 total in the previous three seasons and have gone 12-1 in last 13 away-dog chances. FAU had a mighty good Marshall team on its heels to the final play last week…War Eagle 29 FAU 12
Furman @ #13 LSU: No line.
Vanderbilt (+18) over #14 TEXAS A&M: Aggies 42 Vandy 31
#15 Fresno State (-9) over SAN DIEGO STATE: Bulldogs fell short of the spread last week, beating UNLV by 24, but we wouldn’t consider the Rebels to be significant ‘dogs to SDSU at this point. Aztecs getting some respect following trio of victories of late, but beating New Mexico State, Reno and Air Force don’t really excite us. There is a respectable four-point loss to Oregon State on the books, but ‘Dogs are still the class of the conference…Fresno State 34 San Diego State 23
Duke (+13 ½) over #16 VIRGINIA TECH: VT 24 Duke 16
#18 Louisville (-20) over SOUTH FLORIDA: Cardinals 35 USF 10
IOWA STATE (+13 ½) over #19 Oklahoma State: OKSU 34 Cyclones 27
#21 CENTRAL FLORIDA (-23) over Connecticut: Second choice for “lock”. Huskies are 1-4 against the number and one of the nation’s six remaining winless clubs and averaging just north of 16 ppg, despite reasonable efforts in 13-10 home loss to bad South Florida squad and four-point defeat vs. Michigan. Even with a lethargic opening-15 minutes as the result of upsetting Louisville, rallying from a three-score hole in the 3rd Quarter, Knights should have enough to cover this… UCF 41 UConn 9
#22 Wisconsin: IDLE (next @ IOWA)
Eastern Michigan (+30 ½) over #23 NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Changed our original choice here. Best guess for “wish I had it back” pick as Beagles have allowed opponents to score fitty or more in three of previous four matches to lesser-quality teams, so this is more of a vote against NIU’s defense than it is in favor of EMU…Huskies 51 Ypsilanti Auks 24
#24 Michigan: IDLE (next @ Michigan State)
#25 Nebraska (-10 ½) over MINNESOTA: Children of da’ Corn 35 Gophers 17
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
The NIU Huskies, favored by 16 over Central Michigan, but up just 14 in the final minutes, got a second chance when the Fab Forecaster was flagged for the first time this year for pushing a member of his preseason forecasting team into the bookies’ offensive formation!
Last June, a top Rivals football prospect said a coach tried to sway him with a proposed opportunity to meet Michael Jackson. The recruit was smart to rebuff the coach, knowing MJ was already dead. The offending coach countered with an offer to meet Tito Jackson instead. Personally, “ya had us at ‘Bubbles’!” We also woulda’ signed on the dotted-line to meet LOTR’s Peter Jackson or Action Jackson (raise yer hand if yer old enough to remember Action Jackson!)!! (“Action Jackson…is his name! Prognostication…is his gaaaaame!!!”)
Peyton and Eli Manning did a short-lived rap video/commercial for Football On Yer Phone. We await the highly-anticipated collaboration with MC Hammer to do…”Can’t Touchdown This”! (Anybody else out there picturing da’ Manning brothers in balloon-pants?!... “Stop…Manning-time!”)
On AMC…World Series zombie-pitchers commit illegal moves on the da’ freshly-dug mound that advance opposing-runners in…the “Balking Dead”!
Prior to eventually getting asylum, Wiki-Leaker Edward Snowden spent a lotta’ time in the Moscow Airport transit-zone….musta’ been like six weeks in the NHL trapezoid…he couldn’t play the puck behind the net outside the designated area without incurring a penalty.
Black Shirt: Goes to Texas Tech WR Jace Amaro for haulin’-in a 10-yard TD-reception vs. the Mounted Ears of West Virginia with 61 seconds left to give the Red Raiders (and our humble host) a win against the line!
“Locked in a Box?”: UCLA let us down badly, losing by two touchdowns at Stanford and lowering the record to 3-4-1 (.429).
Shoppe Talk: The Pot Pies of South Carolina (1-6, .143) lost outright to Tennessee! We’re trimming da’ Trees after Stanford did us wrong (0-4 skid, 1-5 last 6, 2-5 overall). Old Mist and the Horny Toads get put on “watch” status, both at 1-3 (.250) of late!
Vindy’s Week 9 Best Bets: Last Week: 2-2 Season: 23-13 (.639)
Temple +11 ½ over SMU, RICE -17 over Texas-El Paso, Wyoming +7 over SAN JOSE STATE, Georgia State +13 ½ over WEEZIANA-MONROE, North Texas -10 ½ over SOUTHERN MISS
BRISTOL, Tennessee (REUTERS)…The Tennessee Volunteers will meet the Hokies of Virginia in September of 2016 at the local motor speedway. Both squads, however, will face unique challenges at the venue. Players must wear racecar driver helmets and will need a lot of stamina, with no time-outs being called, but players can pull into Pit Row to get water or Gatorade, and new cleats, which must be applied by equipment managers using an air-wrench. Defenses and coverage squads will be at the advantage as all crossing-patterns and kick-returns must go right-to-left. Yellow flags won’t be indicative of penalties, but rather will signal caution when athletes are injured. As a result, players on both sides must stay within their respective on-field positions while following a pace-car around the perimeter of the field until the injured player has been moved from the playing area. Following completion of the game, a designated coach or team captain can spray the winning squad with champagne or milk, as desired!
We’re still wipin’ the tire-treads off our face after Week Eight’s season-worst outing of 7-13 (68-60-4, .531), but with Danica Patrick ridin’ “shotgun”, we’re burnin’ rubber and wavin’ da’ checkered flag at…
THE WEBER KID’S 2013 WEEK 9 FORECAST
(Still beatin’ Danny Zuko and Leo Balmudo to da’ finish line!)
#1 ALABAMA (-28) over Tennessee: Tide 41 Vols 10
#2 OREGON (-23) over #12 Ucla: Both clubs absorbed their first spread-losses of the year, unfortunately for the Bruins, it came with their initial outright defeat as well. Drakes were sloppy in non-cover vs. Wazzou. UCLA couldn’t run or defend the run at Stanford. A repeat of that stat won’t produce a better ending here…Mallards 49 UCLA 24
#3 FLORIDA STATE (-31) over NC State: No letdown spot as Seminoles cruised vs. Clemson. ‘Noles have embarrassed the true contenders on the schedule thus far and history says Miami ain’t a distraction with FSU covering each of last four games prior to meeting the Hurricanes. Wolfpack has lost three of last four games SU on the season, including back-to-back defeats by Syracuse and Wake Forest?! Unless Russell Wilson hops a flight outta’ Seattle and suits-up…Da’ Chop 44 NCSU 10
Penn State (+14 ½) over #4 OHIO STATE: Lions finally found an offense against a worthy opponent in 4OT win over Michigan, who blew a 10-point mid-4th Quarter edge. We’re hopin’ that momentum carried thru the bye week to hang around long enough to cover vs. Buckeyes, who still haven’t taken a conference match this season by more than 10 after 34-24 victory vs. Iowa (who also had a bye week prior to OSU game). Nitwit Lions have allowed big points in three of last for games, Freshman QB Hackenberg makes his first trip to Da’ Shoe and 20-point defeat at Indy still haunts us, but PSU is 13-5 SU in Big Tentacle tilts the past 2+ years, so we’ll say…Ohio State 31 WE ARE 24
#20 South Carolina at #5 MISSOURI: OFF And we ain’t crushed about that! For all the success we’ve had tryin’ pick the Cacciatore ATS, we coulda’ easily just tossed a coin, best of three flips (see Shoppe Talk below). Pick ‘em to cover, they look like a Big Least squad. Pick ‘em to not cover…Shaw and Davis activate their Wonder-Twin powers and become the Oregon Ducks! Poultry did not dent the scoreboard in the 4th Quarter, but Shaw played the first 10 minutes of the final period before leaving with an injury. Tigers have beaten a division rival that had no defense (Joja’) and one last week that didn’t field an offense (Florida). SC has both, but it wouldn’t shock us if Mizzou pulled off the hat trick, even without its own starting QB.
#6 Baylor (-35) over KANSAS: Bears like to pile-on and have a bye prior to Oklahoma. Blue Birds have posted consecutive spread-wins vs. a pair of defensive-minded teams, Sooners and Froggies, the past two weeks…on the strength of plus-three turnover margins in each of those…Baylor 57 Rock Chalk 17
Wake Forest (+23) over #7 MIAMI: ‘Canes 28 Deacs 10
#8 Stanford (-4) over OREGON STATE: Trees 34 Beavers 27
#9 Clemson (-13 ½) over MARYLAND: Both teams were expected to pose at least some threat to the ‘Noles, but combined, the two suffered losses to the collective tune of 114-14. How the Tigers respond to their loss is about to be determined, but the Terps have been a mess, with a minus-six turnover ratio in 27-26 victory over struggling Virginia (2-5 SU) and 24-10 loss at Wake Forest, giving up 812 yards of offense over that span. Clemson never had a chance in 51-14 loss after gift-wrapping a pair of first quarter turnovers for Da’ Chop and Tigers coach Dabo Swinney was quoted this week as saying his boys would split a 10-game series with Florida State. That claim would gain a little cred with a cover here…CU 34 Box Turtles 17
#10 Texas Tech (+7) over #17 OKLAHOMA: UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK. Guns Up 27 Spooners 24
Florida Atlantic (+24) over #11 AUBURN: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Nice spot for an Owls’ cover…a non-SEC game sandwiched between Tigers’ closely-fought upset win over A&M and Auburn’s trip to Arkansas next week. FAU wasn’t expected to do much in 2013, but we’ve cashed a few tickets with its help and the Barnyard Birds have held their own ATS, going 6-1 to-date, including two upset victories over UAB and South Florida (as 18-point underdogs!). Under now-second year coach Carl Pelini, Owls have 13 spread-wins thus far after recording just 10 total in the previous three seasons and have gone 12-1 in last 13 away-dog chances. FAU had a mighty good Marshall team on its heels to the final play last week…War Eagle 29 FAU 12
Furman @ #13 LSU: No line.
Vanderbilt (+18) over #14 TEXAS A&M: Aggies 42 Vandy 31
#15 Fresno State (-9) over SAN DIEGO STATE: Bulldogs fell short of the spread last week, beating UNLV by 24, but we wouldn’t consider the Rebels to be significant ‘dogs to SDSU at this point. Aztecs getting some respect following trio of victories of late, but beating New Mexico State, Reno and Air Force don’t really excite us. There is a respectable four-point loss to Oregon State on the books, but ‘Dogs are still the class of the conference…Fresno State 34 San Diego State 23
Duke (+13 ½) over #16 VIRGINIA TECH: VT 24 Duke 16
#18 Louisville (-20) over SOUTH FLORIDA: Cardinals 35 USF 10
IOWA STATE (+13 ½) over #19 Oklahoma State: OKSU 34 Cyclones 27
#21 CENTRAL FLORIDA (-23) over Connecticut: Second choice for “lock”. Huskies are 1-4 against the number and one of the nation’s six remaining winless clubs and averaging just north of 16 ppg, despite reasonable efforts in 13-10 home loss to bad South Florida squad and four-point defeat vs. Michigan. Even with a lethargic opening-15 minutes as the result of upsetting Louisville, rallying from a three-score hole in the 3rd Quarter, Knights should have enough to cover this… UCF 41 UConn 9
#22 Wisconsin: IDLE (next @ IOWA)
Eastern Michigan (+30 ½) over #23 NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Changed our original choice here. Best guess for “wish I had it back” pick as Beagles have allowed opponents to score fitty or more in three of previous four matches to lesser-quality teams, so this is more of a vote against NIU’s defense than it is in favor of EMU…Huskies 51 Ypsilanti Auks 24
#24 Michigan: IDLE (next @ Michigan State)
#25 Nebraska (-10 ½) over MINNESOTA: Children of da’ Corn 35 Gophers 17
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
The NIU Huskies, favored by 16 over Central Michigan, but up just 14 in the final minutes, got a second chance when the Fab Forecaster was flagged for the first time this year for pushing a member of his preseason forecasting team into the bookies’ offensive formation!
Last June, a top Rivals football prospect said a coach tried to sway him with a proposed opportunity to meet Michael Jackson. The recruit was smart to rebuff the coach, knowing MJ was already dead. The offending coach countered with an offer to meet Tito Jackson instead. Personally, “ya had us at ‘Bubbles’!” We also woulda’ signed on the dotted-line to meet LOTR’s Peter Jackson or Action Jackson (raise yer hand if yer old enough to remember Action Jackson!)!! (“Action Jackson…is his name! Prognostication…is his gaaaaame!!!”)
Peyton and Eli Manning did a short-lived rap video/commercial for Football On Yer Phone. We await the highly-anticipated collaboration with MC Hammer to do…”Can’t Touchdown This”! (Anybody else out there picturing da’ Manning brothers in balloon-pants?!... “Stop…Manning-time!”)
On AMC…World Series zombie-pitchers commit illegal moves on the da’ freshly-dug mound that advance opposing-runners in…the “Balking Dead”!
Prior to eventually getting asylum, Wiki-Leaker Edward Snowden spent a lotta’ time in the Moscow Airport transit-zone….musta’ been like six weeks in the NHL trapezoid…he couldn’t play the puck behind the net outside the designated area without incurring a penalty.
Black Shirt: Goes to Texas Tech WR Jace Amaro for haulin’-in a 10-yard TD-reception vs. the Mounted Ears of West Virginia with 61 seconds left to give the Red Raiders (and our humble host) a win against the line!
“Locked in a Box?”: UCLA let us down badly, losing by two touchdowns at Stanford and lowering the record to 3-4-1 (.429).
Shoppe Talk: The Pot Pies of South Carolina (1-6, .143) lost outright to Tennessee! We’re trimming da’ Trees after Stanford did us wrong (0-4 skid, 1-5 last 6, 2-5 overall). Old Mist and the Horny Toads get put on “watch” status, both at 1-3 (.250) of late!
Vindy’s Week 9 Best Bets: Last Week: 2-2 Season: 23-13 (.639)
Temple +11 ½ over SMU, RICE -17 over Texas-El Paso, Wyoming +7 over SAN JOSE STATE, Georgia State +13 ½ over WEEZIANA-MONROE, North Texas -10 ½ over SOUTHERN MISS
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Vindy's Picks Week 8-2013
BCS, CHURCH TEAM UP FOR FINAL HURRAH
ROME, Italy (BBC)…Long considering itself college football’s divine power since its beginning over a decade ago, the BCS will take the concept a step further by recognizing the election of a new pope last March and getting approval from the Vatican to be known the Basilica Conclave Series as it sets about determining which teams play for the national title for the final time before being replaced by a playoff system next season. Chiming-in on the press conference announcing the change, a spokesperson for the Catholic Church said the Cardinals had a great deal of interest in the sport and revealed that they were “so impressed with Pope Francis’ time in the forty and his ability to make sinners miss in the open field” that they traded up to get him!
Rebounding from our first losing effort of the season with a decent 10-7 showing last week (61-47-4, .565), we’re helping bettors find religion around the world with…
THE WEBER KID’S 2013 WEEK 8 FORECAST
(Filling confession boxes at an alarming rate!)
THURS. OCT. 17
#10 Miami (-7) over NORTH CAROLINA: Hurricanes 31 UNC 17
FRI. OCT. 18
Central Florida (+11 ½) over #8 LOUISVILLE: One of these things isn’t like the others…UCF beat Penn State by 3 in Happy Valley, Knights lost by three to South Carolina at home, Central Florida edged Memphis by 7 on the road. Redbirds still haven’t allowed more than 13 points to any opponent, but the potent offense can be slowed by a reasonable defense, as evidenced by Rutgers last week. George O’Leary’s stop-squad hasn’t been bad despite a lack of depth, allowing 11 total touchdowns over five games, with PSU and South Carolina accounting for 8 of those, and just 2 of the 11 via the pass. Should be a good QB match-up between Blake Bortles and Teddy Bridgewater. We prefer “under” 53, but…Cardinal 24 UCF 17
SAT. OCT. 19
#1 ALABAMA (-28) over Arkansas: Tide 41 Hogs 10
Washington State (+37 ½) over #2 OREGON: Ducks 51 Wazzou 27
#3 CLEMSON (+3) over #5 Florida State: We changed our knee-jerk reaction pick here. Terps pass D was horrible, but ‘Noles got virtually nothing trying to rush vs. Maryland early two weeks ago. Terps were also thwarted in repeated attempts to run up the middle vs. State’s defensive front. The O-line pass-blocked and protected QB Winston well. These two squads are basically equal in most statistical categories, but Tigers have played the tougher schedule, have the experience edge at QB with senior Taj Boyd over redshirt-frosh Jameis Winston, and Vic Beasley has nine solo sacks. State did have an extra week to prep while CU was fortunate to beat Boston College. Tigers have allowed just six red zone scores, FSU only nine. ‘Noles have beaten three of last four Top 25 foes, CU is just 3-4 SU in last seven vs. ranked teams…Clemson 27 FSU 23
#4 OHIO STATE (-17) over Iowa: Hawkeyes won total of four games last season, but have already matched that to-date, though hasn’t beaten anyone of note and shows a loss to Northern Illinois and a 12-point defeat to Michigan State last week. State’s been perfect ATS, kinda’, taking five straight since missing the cover in opener vs. Buffalo. Idle week probably helped Braxton Miller heal that much more and while Hawkeyes yield just south of 89 rushing yards/game, we don’t expect that proficiency to hold up vs. the likes of Carlos Hyde. Buckeyes’ two Big Tent-Peg wins have effectively come by single-digits (Columbus faithful ain’t gonna’ take credit for that NW hook-n-ladder debauchery, are ya?!!!). Most of the nation outside Nevada got Monday off to celebrate some dude named Columbus, who sailed across the Atlantic, settling in Ohio, and immediately made plans to build da’ Horseshoe! ... OSU 37 Iowa 16
#6 Louisiana State (-7) over MISSISSIPPI: Bengals 25 Ole Miss 16
#24 Auburn (+14) over #7 TEXAS A&M: A&M 44 Tigers 34
#9 Ucla (+4 ½) over #13 STANFORD: UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK. Bruins bested da’ Utes in Salt Lake by 7. Utah made a goal line stand late to drop the Trees last week. We like the revenge-angle here because in 2012, UCLA was 9-2 headed into what became back-to-back losses to Stanford, the second of which was a 27-24 defeat after a missed 52-yard FG in the final minute that relegated the Bruins to the December 27th Holiday Bowl rather than the Rose Bowl after a previous 6-2 PAC-12 win-loss record. It’s Homecoming for the Birds and SU has topped a pair of ranked squads already, but…UCLA 31 Stanford 27
#11 South Carolina (-7) over TENNESSEE: Almost made this our “lock” pick. We doubt the Vols can muster the same effort vs. the Poultry that got ‘em to extra-frames vs. Joja’, and while the Tenders hadn’t been keeping a lotta’ distance between themselves and their opponents until last week’s beatdown at Arkansas, we think the combination of Shaw and Davis can get separation by more than a TD here. Carolina has won the last three years, but Rocky Top got the spread-win each time, losing by 14, 11 and 3 most recently. Clowney continues to be a non-factor for SC defense, but shouldn’t be a problem if the offense does what it’s capable of achieving…And Dumplings 31 Tennessee 14
Iowa State (+31) over #12 BAYLOR: Bears 48 ISU 27
#22 Florida (-2 ½) over #14 MISSOURI: Gators are #112 in penalties-accrued at almost 8 per game and it showed last week as untimely flags on both sides of the ball killed ‘em at LSU. We thank Mizzou for bringin’ home one of our two upset picks last week (and Ole Miss wilted in the final 3 minutes vs. A&M or we woulda’ been 2-fer-2). UF QB Tyler Murphy goes into another hostile environment, but Columbia ain’t Baton Rouge and Tigers have lesser offensive threat with James Franklin gone for six weeks. Florida on 3-8 ATS skid, but this line is minimal…Crocs 23 Missouri 13
VANDERBILT (+8 ½) over #15 Georgia: Joja’ 38 Vandy 34
#16 Texas Tech (-7) over WEST VIRGINIA: Tech 30 Mountaineers 20
Nevada-Las Vegas (+23) over #17 FRESNO STATE: Break up da’ Rebels, who finally ditched the road-game monkey at New Mexico in late September and are on first four-game SU dubya- streak in three decades???!!!! Our best call here is the “over” since both defenses are subject to big plays. First of back-to-back road games for UNLV, who’s now 2-2-1 in last five away-dog roles. Rebels will need to convert on 3rd Downs, take advantage of Fresno’s 116th-ranked kickoff coverage to get good field-position and use the running game to keep Derek Carr and company on the pine. If UNLV can press the momentum and keep Fresno (IDLE last week) in the 40’s (questionable given Hawaii’s three 4th Quarter scores in a 10-minute span last week), they can cover…Bulldogs 44 UNLV 30
#18 Oklahoma (-23) over KANSAS: Oklahoma 48 Blue Birds 14
#19 Virginia Tech: IDLE (next vs. Duke)
#20 Washington (+2 ½) over ARIZONA STATE: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. MINOR UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK. Sled Dogs hung with Oregon for three quarters before falling. If they didn’t leave it all on the field in Eugene, we think UDUB can win this outright behind the running of Bishop Sankey, who went for 172 vs. the Ducks, and a couple TD tosses by Keith Price. Sun Devils bombed Colorado (but who doesn’t?!) after “upset” loss to the Irish. It’s Homecoming in Tempe. Too bad for the Pitchforks…Washington 34 ASU 28
Texas Christian (+7) over #21 OKLAHOMA STATE: UPSET ALERT. West Virginia showed what a staunch defense can do to the Cowpokes’ scoring machine. We’ll be conservative, but a Frogs win won’t surprise us… OKSU 23 Froggies 20
CENTRAL MICHIGAN (+17) over #23 Northern Illinois: NIU has an offense that could absolutely roll over CMU, and remember that the Chippies lost by 10 to UNLV, helping give the Rebels some hope on the season, but Akron won most of the statistical categories in a 7-point loss at DeKalb last week and after a very slow start, Central Michigan has consecutive SU/ATS wins over MAC whipping-boy Miami-Ohio and the Ohio Bobcats…as 18-point underdogs! Past two years in this series has seen a lotta’ points, but NIU has two “unders” recently and Chippewas have been below the total in four of last five. Chippies don’t play again until November 6 following this one and Huskies haven’t posted a victory in Mt. Pleasant since 2005…NIU 34 CMU 24
#25 Wisconsin (-10 ½) over ILLINOIS: Badgers 31 Illini 17
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
BTW, BCS also stands for …“Be Closin’ Soon”!! (And MVP is “Most Valuable Pontiff”!)
In related news…there was a false-alarm in the white-smoke sightings in March’s papal conclave when former MLB hurler Larry Johnson, in Italy at the time, obliterated a pigeon with a fastball near the Vatican! Spectators in the U.S. were also briefly confused when the NCAA Tournament committee used white smoke to signal the selection of the overall #1 seed!
One more thought on UNLV-Fresno State…the Rebels haven’t hurt themselves with penalties, showing the fourth- fewest number of yellow hankies in the nation.
The Atlanta Falcons’ new venue…the Pantheon…includes a sports bar the length of an entire gridiron…aptly named “The 100-Yard Bar”. At the start of every game, there’s a coin-toss to see which team’s fans get opening-possession of the bar tender and the other team’s fans get to choose which end of the bar they’ll defend in the First Quarter!
We got twenty bucks that says Washington’s pro football franchise eventually goes the way of St. John’s and becomes the Red Storm!
The “Leftovers” column of the April 24 edition of the LVRJ pointed out that Detroit Tigers 2011 manager Jim Leyland did not swap out his Underoos during a 12-game winning streak. We’re ashamed to say we strained our bathtub hooch thru said-coach’s unmentionables later that season, hopin’ fer similar success against the NCAA pigskin point-spread!
One more Miley Cyrus parody…”I came in like a raaaacquet ball!”
Black Shirt: Goes to Pitt QB Tom Savage for failing to successfully rush for the 2-point conversion on Panthers final TD with 2:00 to play that got us a win instead of a loss in game vs. the Hokies.
“Locked in a Box?”: We’re suckin’ dirty pond water at 3-3-1 (.500) following Northwestern’s failure to show up at Wisconsin.
Shoppe Talk: The Chicken Bouillon hosed us again by holding a Pig-roast vs. Arkansas to fall to 1-5 (.167). Meanwhile, we’re firing a few warning shots across the bow of the U.S.S. Stanford (0-3 skid, 1-4 in last 5) and the H.M.S Wolverine (0-4 in last four appearances).
Vindy’s Week 8 Best Bets: Last Week: 3-1 Season: 21-11 (.656)
MEMPHIS -3 ½ over Southern Methodist, HOUSTON +9 over Brigham Young, Utah +5 over ARIZONA, Army-TEMPLE “under” 58
ROME, Italy (BBC)…Long considering itself college football’s divine power since its beginning over a decade ago, the BCS will take the concept a step further by recognizing the election of a new pope last March and getting approval from the Vatican to be known the Basilica Conclave Series as it sets about determining which teams play for the national title for the final time before being replaced by a playoff system next season. Chiming-in on the press conference announcing the change, a spokesperson for the Catholic Church said the Cardinals had a great deal of interest in the sport and revealed that they were “so impressed with Pope Francis’ time in the forty and his ability to make sinners miss in the open field” that they traded up to get him!
Rebounding from our first losing effort of the season with a decent 10-7 showing last week (61-47-4, .565), we’re helping bettors find religion around the world with…
THE WEBER KID’S 2013 WEEK 8 FORECAST
(Filling confession boxes at an alarming rate!)
THURS. OCT. 17
#10 Miami (-7) over NORTH CAROLINA: Hurricanes 31 UNC 17
FRI. OCT. 18
Central Florida (+11 ½) over #8 LOUISVILLE: One of these things isn’t like the others…UCF beat Penn State by 3 in Happy Valley, Knights lost by three to South Carolina at home, Central Florida edged Memphis by 7 on the road. Redbirds still haven’t allowed more than 13 points to any opponent, but the potent offense can be slowed by a reasonable defense, as evidenced by Rutgers last week. George O’Leary’s stop-squad hasn’t been bad despite a lack of depth, allowing 11 total touchdowns over five games, with PSU and South Carolina accounting for 8 of those, and just 2 of the 11 via the pass. Should be a good QB match-up between Blake Bortles and Teddy Bridgewater. We prefer “under” 53, but…Cardinal 24 UCF 17
SAT. OCT. 19
#1 ALABAMA (-28) over Arkansas: Tide 41 Hogs 10
Washington State (+37 ½) over #2 OREGON: Ducks 51 Wazzou 27
#3 CLEMSON (+3) over #5 Florida State: We changed our knee-jerk reaction pick here. Terps pass D was horrible, but ‘Noles got virtually nothing trying to rush vs. Maryland early two weeks ago. Terps were also thwarted in repeated attempts to run up the middle vs. State’s defensive front. The O-line pass-blocked and protected QB Winston well. These two squads are basically equal in most statistical categories, but Tigers have played the tougher schedule, have the experience edge at QB with senior Taj Boyd over redshirt-frosh Jameis Winston, and Vic Beasley has nine solo sacks. State did have an extra week to prep while CU was fortunate to beat Boston College. Tigers have allowed just six red zone scores, FSU only nine. ‘Noles have beaten three of last four Top 25 foes, CU is just 3-4 SU in last seven vs. ranked teams…Clemson 27 FSU 23
#4 OHIO STATE (-17) over Iowa: Hawkeyes won total of four games last season, but have already matched that to-date, though hasn’t beaten anyone of note and shows a loss to Northern Illinois and a 12-point defeat to Michigan State last week. State’s been perfect ATS, kinda’, taking five straight since missing the cover in opener vs. Buffalo. Idle week probably helped Braxton Miller heal that much more and while Hawkeyes yield just south of 89 rushing yards/game, we don’t expect that proficiency to hold up vs. the likes of Carlos Hyde. Buckeyes’ two Big Tent-Peg wins have effectively come by single-digits (Columbus faithful ain’t gonna’ take credit for that NW hook-n-ladder debauchery, are ya?!!!). Most of the nation outside Nevada got Monday off to celebrate some dude named Columbus, who sailed across the Atlantic, settling in Ohio, and immediately made plans to build da’ Horseshoe! ... OSU 37 Iowa 16
#6 Louisiana State (-7) over MISSISSIPPI: Bengals 25 Ole Miss 16
#24 Auburn (+14) over #7 TEXAS A&M: A&M 44 Tigers 34
#9 Ucla (+4 ½) over #13 STANFORD: UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK. Bruins bested da’ Utes in Salt Lake by 7. Utah made a goal line stand late to drop the Trees last week. We like the revenge-angle here because in 2012, UCLA was 9-2 headed into what became back-to-back losses to Stanford, the second of which was a 27-24 defeat after a missed 52-yard FG in the final minute that relegated the Bruins to the December 27th Holiday Bowl rather than the Rose Bowl after a previous 6-2 PAC-12 win-loss record. It’s Homecoming for the Birds and SU has topped a pair of ranked squads already, but…UCLA 31 Stanford 27
#11 South Carolina (-7) over TENNESSEE: Almost made this our “lock” pick. We doubt the Vols can muster the same effort vs. the Poultry that got ‘em to extra-frames vs. Joja’, and while the Tenders hadn’t been keeping a lotta’ distance between themselves and their opponents until last week’s beatdown at Arkansas, we think the combination of Shaw and Davis can get separation by more than a TD here. Carolina has won the last three years, but Rocky Top got the spread-win each time, losing by 14, 11 and 3 most recently. Clowney continues to be a non-factor for SC defense, but shouldn’t be a problem if the offense does what it’s capable of achieving…And Dumplings 31 Tennessee 14
Iowa State (+31) over #12 BAYLOR: Bears 48 ISU 27
#22 Florida (-2 ½) over #14 MISSOURI: Gators are #112 in penalties-accrued at almost 8 per game and it showed last week as untimely flags on both sides of the ball killed ‘em at LSU. We thank Mizzou for bringin’ home one of our two upset picks last week (and Ole Miss wilted in the final 3 minutes vs. A&M or we woulda’ been 2-fer-2). UF QB Tyler Murphy goes into another hostile environment, but Columbia ain’t Baton Rouge and Tigers have lesser offensive threat with James Franklin gone for six weeks. Florida on 3-8 ATS skid, but this line is minimal…Crocs 23 Missouri 13
VANDERBILT (+8 ½) over #15 Georgia: Joja’ 38 Vandy 34
#16 Texas Tech (-7) over WEST VIRGINIA: Tech 30 Mountaineers 20
Nevada-Las Vegas (+23) over #17 FRESNO STATE: Break up da’ Rebels, who finally ditched the road-game monkey at New Mexico in late September and are on first four-game SU dubya- streak in three decades???!!!! Our best call here is the “over” since both defenses are subject to big plays. First of back-to-back road games for UNLV, who’s now 2-2-1 in last five away-dog roles. Rebels will need to convert on 3rd Downs, take advantage of Fresno’s 116th-ranked kickoff coverage to get good field-position and use the running game to keep Derek Carr and company on the pine. If UNLV can press the momentum and keep Fresno (IDLE last week) in the 40’s (questionable given Hawaii’s three 4th Quarter scores in a 10-minute span last week), they can cover…Bulldogs 44 UNLV 30
#18 Oklahoma (-23) over KANSAS: Oklahoma 48 Blue Birds 14
#19 Virginia Tech: IDLE (next vs. Duke)
#20 Washington (+2 ½) over ARIZONA STATE: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. MINOR UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK. Sled Dogs hung with Oregon for three quarters before falling. If they didn’t leave it all on the field in Eugene, we think UDUB can win this outright behind the running of Bishop Sankey, who went for 172 vs. the Ducks, and a couple TD tosses by Keith Price. Sun Devils bombed Colorado (but who doesn’t?!) after “upset” loss to the Irish. It’s Homecoming in Tempe. Too bad for the Pitchforks…Washington 34 ASU 28
Texas Christian (+7) over #21 OKLAHOMA STATE: UPSET ALERT. West Virginia showed what a staunch defense can do to the Cowpokes’ scoring machine. We’ll be conservative, but a Frogs win won’t surprise us… OKSU 23 Froggies 20
CENTRAL MICHIGAN (+17) over #23 Northern Illinois: NIU has an offense that could absolutely roll over CMU, and remember that the Chippies lost by 10 to UNLV, helping give the Rebels some hope on the season, but Akron won most of the statistical categories in a 7-point loss at DeKalb last week and after a very slow start, Central Michigan has consecutive SU/ATS wins over MAC whipping-boy Miami-Ohio and the Ohio Bobcats…as 18-point underdogs! Past two years in this series has seen a lotta’ points, but NIU has two “unders” recently and Chippewas have been below the total in four of last five. Chippies don’t play again until November 6 following this one and Huskies haven’t posted a victory in Mt. Pleasant since 2005…NIU 34 CMU 24
#25 Wisconsin (-10 ½) over ILLINOIS: Badgers 31 Illini 17
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
BTW, BCS also stands for …“Be Closin’ Soon”!! (And MVP is “Most Valuable Pontiff”!)
In related news…there was a false-alarm in the white-smoke sightings in March’s papal conclave when former MLB hurler Larry Johnson, in Italy at the time, obliterated a pigeon with a fastball near the Vatican! Spectators in the U.S. were also briefly confused when the NCAA Tournament committee used white smoke to signal the selection of the overall #1 seed!
One more thought on UNLV-Fresno State…the Rebels haven’t hurt themselves with penalties, showing the fourth- fewest number of yellow hankies in the nation.
The Atlanta Falcons’ new venue…the Pantheon…includes a sports bar the length of an entire gridiron…aptly named “The 100-Yard Bar”. At the start of every game, there’s a coin-toss to see which team’s fans get opening-possession of the bar tender and the other team’s fans get to choose which end of the bar they’ll defend in the First Quarter!
We got twenty bucks that says Washington’s pro football franchise eventually goes the way of St. John’s and becomes the Red Storm!
The “Leftovers” column of the April 24 edition of the LVRJ pointed out that Detroit Tigers 2011 manager Jim Leyland did not swap out his Underoos during a 12-game winning streak. We’re ashamed to say we strained our bathtub hooch thru said-coach’s unmentionables later that season, hopin’ fer similar success against the NCAA pigskin point-spread!
One more Miley Cyrus parody…”I came in like a raaaacquet ball!”
Black Shirt: Goes to Pitt QB Tom Savage for failing to successfully rush for the 2-point conversion on Panthers final TD with 2:00 to play that got us a win instead of a loss in game vs. the Hokies.
“Locked in a Box?”: We’re suckin’ dirty pond water at 3-3-1 (.500) following Northwestern’s failure to show up at Wisconsin.
Shoppe Talk: The Chicken Bouillon hosed us again by holding a Pig-roast vs. Arkansas to fall to 1-5 (.167). Meanwhile, we’re firing a few warning shots across the bow of the U.S.S. Stanford (0-3 skid, 1-4 in last 5) and the H.M.S Wolverine (0-4 in last four appearances).
Vindy’s Week 8 Best Bets: Last Week: 3-1 Season: 21-11 (.656)
MEMPHIS -3 ½ over Southern Methodist, HOUSTON +9 over Brigham Young, Utah +5 over ARIZONA, Army-TEMPLE “under” 58
Wednesday, October 09, 2013
Vindy's Picks Week 7-2013
FAMOUS FILM REDUX MAKES PITCH TO GET QB
JACKSONVILLE, Florida (CNN)…From Florida stardom to brief NFL fame in Denver to flop in the Big Apple and Foxborough, the rise and fall of Tim Tebow has been well-documented, from Saskatchewan down to the Gulf Coast. Now the folks from Munchkinland are getting in on the act. Audience members taking in the new 3-D version of Wizard of Oz in local theatres, report the beloved flick forgoes the traditional “Surrender Dorothy” skywriting scene in lieu of the Wicked Witch of the West spelling out “Tebow, Why not?” aboard her broom high above the Emerald City in an apparent effort to get the Jaguars, who have nothing to lose, to acquire the beleaguered dual-threat athlete!
Suffering the first sub-.500 effort on the season and going 10-11 last week (51-40-4, .560)…sing it with us…Vin was tender…he was gentle…and his picks were…detrimental…regarding parlay carrrrrrds…It’s yer wagers you’d be losin’ and yer wallet you’d be bruisin’, if you only had…
THE WEBER KID’S 2013 WEEK 7 FORECAST
(Paying no attention to that Manziel behind da’ curtain!)
THURS. OCT. 10
Rutgers (+17 ½) over #8 LOUISVILLE: Only Kentucky scored more than 7 vs. the Cardinals, but Da’ Ville’s high-powered offense managed only a pair of FGs in second half at Temple. Knights won’t be intimidated, having lost just 20-17 in 2012 and 16-14 here in 2011. Rutgers has played in two shootouts that went into the fitties, including triple-OT victory last week at SMU, but we’ll expect an “under” here. RU QB Gary Nova has just three fewer passing scores than Teddy Bridgewater and Knights are tied for #15 in sacks…Louisville 27 Paladins 13
SAT. OCT. 12
#1 Alabama (-27) over KENTUCKY: Down 20 after three quarters, ‘Cats scored three touchdowns, presumably against the reserves, but forced the Gamehens to score one more of their own to secure the win. ‘Bama cured the offensive woes by posting 38 in the first half vs. Joja’ State. Fourth straight Top 25 foe for Kentucky, who shows losses by just 14, 17 and 7 over that span, but ‘Cats hit the board for a lone touchdown at Florida and obviously Tide is better on defense…and offense…than the Gators. The switch to the run-heavy spread-attack still only has Kentucky at #71 in rushing offense and Tide’s permitted two ground scores all season…Alabama 42 KY 10
#2 Oregon (-14) over #16 WASHINGTON: Even discounting the poor execution off-and-on throughout the game, what will the Huskies have left to bring against the Mallard’s juggernaut following 3-point loss at Stanford? To their credit, Sled Dogs’ last three SU losses back to last season have come by total of 8 points. UDUB lost by 31 in Eugene last season. Not sure it has closed the gap enough to stay this close. Unknown if Drakes will get RB DeAnthony Thomas back, but QB Mariota played less than three quarters last week and will be good to go here. Mean Green is 4-0 ATS to-date and has covered 8 of last 10 vs. ranked opponents…Ducks 41 UDUB 24
Boston College (+25 ½) over #3 CLEMSON: Clemson 35 Boston College 19
#4 Ohio State: IDLE (next vs. Iowa)
#5 Stanford (-7 ½) over UTAH: Only the linesmakers and the folks in Salt Lake City expected Utah to give UCLA a battle last week and Utes were in it until the last drive, despite six interceptions thrown by Travis Wilson. Both sides yield a lotta’ pass yards but each has only given up 9 aerial scores. Trees did not score in the final 16:32 at Washington and Huskies got a TD with 2:49 left to grab the cover. Utes defend the run well and UCLA awaits Stanford, but Cardinal is 8-3-1 in last dozen as road fave and this spread isn’t obnoxious…SU 34 Utes 24
#6 Florida State: IDLE (next @ Clemson)
#25 Missouri (+9) over #7 GEORGIA: UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK #1. ‘Dawgs showed no signs of letdown vs. Tennessee, scoring 10 points in the 1st Quarter, but the defense again was a problem as Joja’ committed no turnovers on the way to squandering a 14-point lead at the intermission. UGA missed RB Todd Gurley and was minus a couple defensive starters as well. Tigers have quietly won five straight games (3-1 ATS), matching last season’s win total, and will remember last year’s three-touchdown loss in Columbia. Georgia’s last outright defeat between the hedges came in early September of 2011, but expect a high-scoring tilt, going to…Mizzou 41 Joja’ 35
MISSISSIPPI (+5 ½) over #9 Texas A&M: UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK #2…Ole Miss 31 A&M 29
#17 Florida (+7) over #10 LSU: Gators have faced (and coulda’ beat) only one offense comparable to LSU’s…Miami (45 ppg scored), whom they held to 21 points in lone loss of the year. Bengals have not lined up against a defense this good (UF is #2 in total D, allowing just north of 12 ppg). QB Zettenberger has been efficient enough and Tigers can stay on the ground with Hill. Might come down to special teams. Tigers’ 23-1 SU record in Baton Rouge may be in jeopardy…LSU 23 Crocs 20
#11 UCLA (-24) over California: Bares have won four of the last five years in this series, but Cal’s only victory this year came over AA Portland State…by a touchdown…and Berkeley is otherwise 0-4 SU/ATS in FBS play and has dropped nine consecutive games to the line, including 44-22 loss to Wazzou in Week 6. Our concerns here for UCLA include a trip to Palo Alto next week and a mere7-point win at Utah despite snagging six (count ‘em, SIX) interceptions. Uclans won five straight games and got to the PAC-12 title tilt last year following 43-17 blow-out by the Bears, so we’re don’t think revenge will necessarily translate to Bruins returning the favor here, but…Bruins 44 Cal 13
#12 Oklahoma (-14) over Texas (@ Dallas): Steers are on borrowed-time this week, much like ASU was after gift- win vs. Wisconsin…Sooners 37 ‘Horns 20
#13 Miami: IDLE (next 10/17 @ UNC)
ARKANSAS (+6) over #14 South Carolina: Gamehens 23 Soooeey Pigs 19
KANSAS STATE (+17) over #15 Baylor: Bears 38 Purple Persians 28
#18 Michigan (-2 ½) over PENN STATE: We looked hard at this for “lock”. This is a lotta’ love for the Nitwit Lions after the alma mater lost by 20 to Indi-freakin’-Anna last week!? Simply looking at the box score for that game, there’s no way one would expect a lopsided victory by the Hoosiers, in fact…maybe not even a win by Indy. State’s best victory came via the 23-16 “neutral site” win over Syracuse. Big Blew seems to have solved the ball-security problem, blasting Minnesota last week. Unlike 2012, Lions, whose only other dubyas came vs. MAC doormats Eastern Michigan and Kent State, are playin’ like they have nothing to play for…Michigan 31 PSU 23
#19 Northwestern (+10) over WISCONSIN: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Seriously? Wildcats getting double-digits here???!!! NW was step-for-step with Ohio State last week and didn’t relinquish the lead until the fourth quarter, suffering the same malaise they did in 2012…wasted leads in the final period. Wonder how many Buckeyes backers scrambled to tape-together the shredded pieces of their tickets after ‘Cats, down 4 with seconds left, broke out the hook-n-ladder on the game’s final play and fumbled into the end zone resulting in a State recovery for touchdown and 10-point margin for the OSU cover???!!! Bad beat of the week!!! Those who watched the game saw a very competent team on both sides of the ball. No way does Northwestern not cover this and we’d consider a money-line wager as well…Wisky 29 NW 27
Iowa State (+15 ½) over #20 TEXAS TECH: We’re a bit surprised this one isn’t off the board given the uncertainty of playing status for Tech QB Mayfield. Dust Devils probably got hosed at end of Texas game and Big 12 officials were caught on an open mic discussing the PR strategy for that boo-boo. Raiders spotted Kansas a 10-point 1st Quarter edge before beating the Blue Birds rather badly. ISU made good on the Playbook.Com strategy we mentioned last week and we expect a similar effort here as Cyclones try to knock off a Top 25 opponent for the fourth consecutive season. State’s been close to posting more than its one victory (38-21 at Tulsa) a couple times and a third straight bowl berth is slipping away quickly if they don’t act now…Guns Up 34 Auntie ‘Em, Auntie ‘Em 27
#21 Fresno State: IDLE (next vs. UNLV)
#22 Oklahoma State: IDLE (next vs. TCU)
#23 NORTHERN ILLINOIS (-23) over Akron: Potent Huskies average 539 yards of offense and 42 ppg, sporting strong ground attack. Zips, other than turnover-assisted cover at Michigan and 5-point loss to Weeziana-Lafayette (in which Akron was also plus-two in turnover ratio), have not been competitive in their losses, opening MAC play last week with 43-3 defeat by Ohio. NIU has a victory over Iowa and trounced Purdue…Sled Dogs 41 Kangaroos 9
#24 VIRGINIA TECH (-9 ½) over Pittsburgh: Hokies 29 Panthers 13
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
Thought we’d share alternative forecast lead-ins we considered: “It’s the covers you’d be missin’, not the bookies you’d be dissin’ if ya only had…” and “You’d be tossin’ all yer cookies, not so friendly with da’ bookies if ya only had…”
Chuck Norris gave props to Tim Tebow last May and hoped Timmy ended up on the Jacksonville club, noting the controversial player “reminds me of myself when I used to compete in martial arts…”. Can’t wait to see the former Gator-Bronco-NY Jet reprise Chucky’s role in “Tebow: Texas Ranger” or face Bruce Lee in a remake of “Way of the Dragon”… or leading a special-ops rescue mission as Major McCoy in “Delta Forced-Fumble”!!!
Scary stat of da’ week…at 134 yards/game, the nation’s #1 passing yardage defense is…UNLV??? (We won’t mention the home-town heroes also stand-in at #123 in rushing yardage D, ahead of only New Mexico State!). Fortunately for the Rebels, this week’s opponent, Hawaii, runs for just south of 74 ypg (good for #119).
The Upton brothers led the Atlanta Braves in outfield put-outs until they were joined by their sister…Kate Upton!
Penguins forward Sidney Crosby entered a Pittsburgh DMV in August, planning to simply dump his license-renewal application into a corner and give chase, but was quickly whisked to the head of the line to prevent crowd control issues and disruption of services. Some normal folks at the facility were not pleased with Syd the Kid’s preferential treatment. Fear not, denizens of Iron City…in Pittsburgh…DMV still stands for Department of Malkin Vehicles! Oddly, most cities now have the capability for patrons to renew their Zamboni license or registration online!
Black Shirt: The carbon-colored cloth was earmarked for Ohio State’s Braxton Miller for committing three turnovers that shoulda’ led to a Northwestern cover, but instead we’ll forward it to Irish kicker Kyle Brindza for a 53-yard field goal that ultimately helped ND make good on our upset pick.
“Locked in a Box?”: The record now stands at 3-2-1 as sluggish Louisville couldn’t push far enough away from the Owls.
Shoppe Talk: An early candidate for Grill-Master Supreme “honors”, KFC falls to 1-4 (.200). The ‘Noles continue to be a bugaboo at 1-3 (.250 season; 5-11, .312 back to last year) and we barely escaped the clutches of the Mounted Ears this week (1-2, .333; 3-7, .300 back to last year). For those wonderin’ which teams have supported our picks regularly…Notre Dame 6-0, Florida 5-0 and LSU 5-0-1.
Vindy’s Week 7 Best Bets: Last Week: 3-2 Season: 18-10 (.643)
Buffalo -9 over WESTERN MICHIGAN, GEORGIA STATE +18 over Troy, Rice -2 over TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO, Georgia Tech +7 over BYU
JACKSONVILLE, Florida (CNN)…From Florida stardom to brief NFL fame in Denver to flop in the Big Apple and Foxborough, the rise and fall of Tim Tebow has been well-documented, from Saskatchewan down to the Gulf Coast. Now the folks from Munchkinland are getting in on the act. Audience members taking in the new 3-D version of Wizard of Oz in local theatres, report the beloved flick forgoes the traditional “Surrender Dorothy” skywriting scene in lieu of the Wicked Witch of the West spelling out “Tebow, Why not?” aboard her broom high above the Emerald City in an apparent effort to get the Jaguars, who have nothing to lose, to acquire the beleaguered dual-threat athlete!
Suffering the first sub-.500 effort on the season and going 10-11 last week (51-40-4, .560)…sing it with us…Vin was tender…he was gentle…and his picks were…detrimental…regarding parlay carrrrrrds…It’s yer wagers you’d be losin’ and yer wallet you’d be bruisin’, if you only had…
THE WEBER KID’S 2013 WEEK 7 FORECAST
(Paying no attention to that Manziel behind da’ curtain!)
THURS. OCT. 10
Rutgers (+17 ½) over #8 LOUISVILLE: Only Kentucky scored more than 7 vs. the Cardinals, but Da’ Ville’s high-powered offense managed only a pair of FGs in second half at Temple. Knights won’t be intimidated, having lost just 20-17 in 2012 and 16-14 here in 2011. Rutgers has played in two shootouts that went into the fitties, including triple-OT victory last week at SMU, but we’ll expect an “under” here. RU QB Gary Nova has just three fewer passing scores than Teddy Bridgewater and Knights are tied for #15 in sacks…Louisville 27 Paladins 13
SAT. OCT. 12
#1 Alabama (-27) over KENTUCKY: Down 20 after three quarters, ‘Cats scored three touchdowns, presumably against the reserves, but forced the Gamehens to score one more of their own to secure the win. ‘Bama cured the offensive woes by posting 38 in the first half vs. Joja’ State. Fourth straight Top 25 foe for Kentucky, who shows losses by just 14, 17 and 7 over that span, but ‘Cats hit the board for a lone touchdown at Florida and obviously Tide is better on defense…and offense…than the Gators. The switch to the run-heavy spread-attack still only has Kentucky at #71 in rushing offense and Tide’s permitted two ground scores all season…Alabama 42 KY 10
#2 Oregon (-14) over #16 WASHINGTON: Even discounting the poor execution off-and-on throughout the game, what will the Huskies have left to bring against the Mallard’s juggernaut following 3-point loss at Stanford? To their credit, Sled Dogs’ last three SU losses back to last season have come by total of 8 points. UDUB lost by 31 in Eugene last season. Not sure it has closed the gap enough to stay this close. Unknown if Drakes will get RB DeAnthony Thomas back, but QB Mariota played less than three quarters last week and will be good to go here. Mean Green is 4-0 ATS to-date and has covered 8 of last 10 vs. ranked opponents…Ducks 41 UDUB 24
Boston College (+25 ½) over #3 CLEMSON: Clemson 35 Boston College 19
#4 Ohio State: IDLE (next vs. Iowa)
#5 Stanford (-7 ½) over UTAH: Only the linesmakers and the folks in Salt Lake City expected Utah to give UCLA a battle last week and Utes were in it until the last drive, despite six interceptions thrown by Travis Wilson. Both sides yield a lotta’ pass yards but each has only given up 9 aerial scores. Trees did not score in the final 16:32 at Washington and Huskies got a TD with 2:49 left to grab the cover. Utes defend the run well and UCLA awaits Stanford, but Cardinal is 8-3-1 in last dozen as road fave and this spread isn’t obnoxious…SU 34 Utes 24
#6 Florida State: IDLE (next @ Clemson)
#25 Missouri (+9) over #7 GEORGIA: UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK #1. ‘Dawgs showed no signs of letdown vs. Tennessee, scoring 10 points in the 1st Quarter, but the defense again was a problem as Joja’ committed no turnovers on the way to squandering a 14-point lead at the intermission. UGA missed RB Todd Gurley and was minus a couple defensive starters as well. Tigers have quietly won five straight games (3-1 ATS), matching last season’s win total, and will remember last year’s three-touchdown loss in Columbia. Georgia’s last outright defeat between the hedges came in early September of 2011, but expect a high-scoring tilt, going to…Mizzou 41 Joja’ 35
MISSISSIPPI (+5 ½) over #9 Texas A&M: UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK #2…Ole Miss 31 A&M 29
#17 Florida (+7) over #10 LSU: Gators have faced (and coulda’ beat) only one offense comparable to LSU’s…Miami (45 ppg scored), whom they held to 21 points in lone loss of the year. Bengals have not lined up against a defense this good (UF is #2 in total D, allowing just north of 12 ppg). QB Zettenberger has been efficient enough and Tigers can stay on the ground with Hill. Might come down to special teams. Tigers’ 23-1 SU record in Baton Rouge may be in jeopardy…LSU 23 Crocs 20
#11 UCLA (-24) over California: Bares have won four of the last five years in this series, but Cal’s only victory this year came over AA Portland State…by a touchdown…and Berkeley is otherwise 0-4 SU/ATS in FBS play and has dropped nine consecutive games to the line, including 44-22 loss to Wazzou in Week 6. Our concerns here for UCLA include a trip to Palo Alto next week and a mere7-point win at Utah despite snagging six (count ‘em, SIX) interceptions. Uclans won five straight games and got to the PAC-12 title tilt last year following 43-17 blow-out by the Bears, so we’re don’t think revenge will necessarily translate to Bruins returning the favor here, but…Bruins 44 Cal 13
#12 Oklahoma (-14) over Texas (@ Dallas): Steers are on borrowed-time this week, much like ASU was after gift- win vs. Wisconsin…Sooners 37 ‘Horns 20
#13 Miami: IDLE (next 10/17 @ UNC)
ARKANSAS (+6) over #14 South Carolina: Gamehens 23 Soooeey Pigs 19
KANSAS STATE (+17) over #15 Baylor: Bears 38 Purple Persians 28
#18 Michigan (-2 ½) over PENN STATE: We looked hard at this for “lock”. This is a lotta’ love for the Nitwit Lions after the alma mater lost by 20 to Indi-freakin’-Anna last week!? Simply looking at the box score for that game, there’s no way one would expect a lopsided victory by the Hoosiers, in fact…maybe not even a win by Indy. State’s best victory came via the 23-16 “neutral site” win over Syracuse. Big Blew seems to have solved the ball-security problem, blasting Minnesota last week. Unlike 2012, Lions, whose only other dubyas came vs. MAC doormats Eastern Michigan and Kent State, are playin’ like they have nothing to play for…Michigan 31 PSU 23
#19 Northwestern (+10) over WISCONSIN: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Seriously? Wildcats getting double-digits here???!!! NW was step-for-step with Ohio State last week and didn’t relinquish the lead until the fourth quarter, suffering the same malaise they did in 2012…wasted leads in the final period. Wonder how many Buckeyes backers scrambled to tape-together the shredded pieces of their tickets after ‘Cats, down 4 with seconds left, broke out the hook-n-ladder on the game’s final play and fumbled into the end zone resulting in a State recovery for touchdown and 10-point margin for the OSU cover???!!! Bad beat of the week!!! Those who watched the game saw a very competent team on both sides of the ball. No way does Northwestern not cover this and we’d consider a money-line wager as well…Wisky 29 NW 27
Iowa State (+15 ½) over #20 TEXAS TECH: We’re a bit surprised this one isn’t off the board given the uncertainty of playing status for Tech QB Mayfield. Dust Devils probably got hosed at end of Texas game and Big 12 officials were caught on an open mic discussing the PR strategy for that boo-boo. Raiders spotted Kansas a 10-point 1st Quarter edge before beating the Blue Birds rather badly. ISU made good on the Playbook.Com strategy we mentioned last week and we expect a similar effort here as Cyclones try to knock off a Top 25 opponent for the fourth consecutive season. State’s been close to posting more than its one victory (38-21 at Tulsa) a couple times and a third straight bowl berth is slipping away quickly if they don’t act now…Guns Up 34 Auntie ‘Em, Auntie ‘Em 27
#21 Fresno State: IDLE (next vs. UNLV)
#22 Oklahoma State: IDLE (next vs. TCU)
#23 NORTHERN ILLINOIS (-23) over Akron: Potent Huskies average 539 yards of offense and 42 ppg, sporting strong ground attack. Zips, other than turnover-assisted cover at Michigan and 5-point loss to Weeziana-Lafayette (in which Akron was also plus-two in turnover ratio), have not been competitive in their losses, opening MAC play last week with 43-3 defeat by Ohio. NIU has a victory over Iowa and trounced Purdue…Sled Dogs 41 Kangaroos 9
#24 VIRGINIA TECH (-9 ½) over Pittsburgh: Hokies 29 Panthers 13
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
Thought we’d share alternative forecast lead-ins we considered: “It’s the covers you’d be missin’, not the bookies you’d be dissin’ if ya only had…” and “You’d be tossin’ all yer cookies, not so friendly with da’ bookies if ya only had…”
Chuck Norris gave props to Tim Tebow last May and hoped Timmy ended up on the Jacksonville club, noting the controversial player “reminds me of myself when I used to compete in martial arts…”. Can’t wait to see the former Gator-Bronco-NY Jet reprise Chucky’s role in “Tebow: Texas Ranger” or face Bruce Lee in a remake of “Way of the Dragon”… or leading a special-ops rescue mission as Major McCoy in “Delta Forced-Fumble”!!!
Scary stat of da’ week…at 134 yards/game, the nation’s #1 passing yardage defense is…UNLV??? (We won’t mention the home-town heroes also stand-in at #123 in rushing yardage D, ahead of only New Mexico State!). Fortunately for the Rebels, this week’s opponent, Hawaii, runs for just south of 74 ypg (good for #119).
The Upton brothers led the Atlanta Braves in outfield put-outs until they were joined by their sister…Kate Upton!
Penguins forward Sidney Crosby entered a Pittsburgh DMV in August, planning to simply dump his license-renewal application into a corner and give chase, but was quickly whisked to the head of the line to prevent crowd control issues and disruption of services. Some normal folks at the facility were not pleased with Syd the Kid’s preferential treatment. Fear not, denizens of Iron City…in Pittsburgh…DMV still stands for Department of Malkin Vehicles! Oddly, most cities now have the capability for patrons to renew their Zamboni license or registration online!
Black Shirt: The carbon-colored cloth was earmarked for Ohio State’s Braxton Miller for committing three turnovers that shoulda’ led to a Northwestern cover, but instead we’ll forward it to Irish kicker Kyle Brindza for a 53-yard field goal that ultimately helped ND make good on our upset pick.
“Locked in a Box?”: The record now stands at 3-2-1 as sluggish Louisville couldn’t push far enough away from the Owls.
Shoppe Talk: An early candidate for Grill-Master Supreme “honors”, KFC falls to 1-4 (.200). The ‘Noles continue to be a bugaboo at 1-3 (.250 season; 5-11, .312 back to last year) and we barely escaped the clutches of the Mounted Ears this week (1-2, .333; 3-7, .300 back to last year). For those wonderin’ which teams have supported our picks regularly…Notre Dame 6-0, Florida 5-0 and LSU 5-0-1.
Vindy’s Week 7 Best Bets: Last Week: 3-2 Season: 18-10 (.643)
Buffalo -9 over WESTERN MICHIGAN, GEORGIA STATE +18 over Troy, Rice -2 over TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO, Georgia Tech +7 over BYU
Wednesday, October 02, 2013
Vindy's Picks Week 6-2013
BYU COPS TO COVERT CAR-LOT
PROVO, Utah (REUTERS)…An attack-of-conscience at Brigham Young University, following a French vitamin-water company’s marketing snafu over a bottle-cap phrase, which when translated to English, included a term that is used in a derogatory way to describe the mentally-challenged and sparked a product recall, led to revelation of a previously-secret stash of KIA vehicles acquired nearly eight months ago. The unfortunate model name, Provo, created a firestorm when Northern Ireland objected to the name because it was slang for the Provisional Irish Republican Army, the violence-prone segment of the IRA. Thinking car sales would have a better chance in Utah, the manufacturer shipped the autos to the Mormon university. But after reviewing ad campaigns and not wanting students and locals seen on the religious campus in vehicles portrayed in TV commercials as being driven by “hoodie-wearing gangsta’ hamsters”, school officials simply stowed away the clandestine fleet in a little-known underground parking lot beneath LaVell Edwards Stadium!
Not too far away in Vegas, our fab forecaster wanted to conceal Saturday’s 5-5-2 tally as well (40-29-4, .580). Readers can run but they can’t hide from…
THE WEBER KID’S 2013 WEEK 6 FORECAST
(Goin’ pink all month in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness)
THURS. OCT. 3
#12 Ucla (-4 ½) over UTAH: Curiously-low line, though looking at Thursday-night ATS records, the chalk went 6-2 on the season’s opening night. Since then, the team getting points has taken the money in the subsequent eight games-in-question. (FYI, your humble host has been on the right side of the Thursday-nighter just once in four tries and none since August 29). Utes, coming into the year off first losing-season since 2005, beat BYU 20-13 before last week’s bye and dropped a 51-48 track-meet to the Beavers. Bruins are crushing opponents by an average of 34 ppg, including 20-point win in Lincoln. Utes have done little noteworthy since joining the PAC-12, winning just 7 of 19 in conference, with most of the victories coming vs. the lower-tier…Bruins 34 Utes 17
SAT. OCT. 5
Georgia State (+55 ½) over #1 ALABAMA: Will anybody other than possibly AJ McCarron and his teammates on offense, who’ve been limited to 21- and 23-points the past two weeks, give a flyin’ rat’s about this non-conference game vs. FBS-rookie Panthers? Tide won by this many once in the last decade, with 63-7 win over this same Joja’ State club in 2010. Senior-laden Panthers did cover in 41-7 loss three weeks ago at West Virginia. ‘Bama D might consider it an insult to let State score after Ole Miss laid the goose-egg last week, and UA did throw back-to-back shut-outs twice last season…’Bama 51 Georgia State 0
COLORADO (+38) over #2 Oregon: Mallards 51 Bison 19
#3 Clemson (-13 ½) over SYRACUSE: Clemson 31 Syracuse 16
#16 NORTHWESTERN (+6) over #4 Ohio State: Wildcats, off 14-point win over AA Maine, spent last week watchin’ film. Buckeyes, up 17 after three quarters, allowed Wisky the final 10 points to make it a closer game. Buckeyes were outgained by the Badgers but were plus-one in turnovers and QB Braxton Miller was efficient enough in his first start back from injury, adding 83 rushing yards as well. N-DUB’s allowing more points-against than last season, but bring a better ground game than Wisconsin did. The offspring of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West came into the world last summer and got the moniker “North West”. Should said celebrity-daughter grow up and acquire a nursing degree at a certain Evanston school while cheering the Wildcats, would she eventually be known as North West, RN???!!!...OSU 27 NW 24
#5 STANFORD (-7) over #15 Washington: Trees 31 UDUB 21
#6 Georgia (-11) over TENNESSEE: ‘Dawgs could be flat off back-and-forth game vs. LSU, a la ‘Bama’s performance vs. Colorado State following close-win over A&M. Vols let South Alabama hang around even more than we expected when we tagged the Jags (+20) as a preferred-pick last week, as Rocky Top escaped with a 7-point victory. Bulldogs D can be had and Vols lost by 7 between the hedges in 2012 and by 8 the season before that. Tennessee might consider employing the squib-kick strategy used by LSU to limit Joja’s return capability. We think UGA’s Marshall Morgan corked the tip of his kicking-shoe in light of 55-yard FG that cleared the uprights easily despite a kicking-motion more reminiscent of a golfer using a wedge to get outta’ da’ sand-trap!...Georgia 45 Vols 27
#7 Louisville (-33 ½) over TEMPLE: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Redbirds don’t excel off a bye week facing teams with poor SU records, but in the past two weeks, Owls have lost outright to AA Fordham and Idaho while laying more than a touchdown. Rested Cardinals should pad some of Teddy’s passing numbers…Da’ Ville 51 Temple (of Gloom) 6
#25 Maryland (+16) over #8 FLORIDA STATE: We didn’t know how good the Box Turtles were until West Virginia upset Oklahoma State last week. Terps ripped the Mounties 37-0 (one of our best bet calls that week). ‘Noles again proved they might be a tad over-rated, spotting BC a 10-point edge before coming back to win but not cover in Chestnut Hill. FSU does start a freshman at QB, Jameis Winston. Maryland’s young on offense too, but seasoned on defense, though has been beaten handily by the Seminoles the past three years. State shows just a 3-9 spread-record facing Top 25 foes, with two of the three wins coming in the post-season…FSU 27 MD 20
#9 Texas A&M: IDLE (next @ Ole Miss)
#10 Louisiana State (-9) over MISSISSIPPI STATE: LSU 27 MSU 14
#11 OKLAHOMA (-10 ½) over Texas Christian: Sooners 33 Toads 20
#13 SOUTH CAROLINA (-22 ½) over Kentucky: Chicken Nuggets 34 KY 10
#14 MIAMI (-5) over Georgia Tech: Hurricanes 24 Wreck 17
#17 BAYLOR (-27) over West Virginia: Mountaineers continue to haunt us, pulling off upset over Oklahoma State. Apparently, FSU transfer QB Clint Trickett found the offense that had been missing (though WVU did return a pick for a score) in his initial start since 2011. The red zone defense was excellent, but it’ll be probed hard this week by Baylor, who runs well with Lache Seastrunk. Bares’ stop-squad has improved considerably, allowing just 23 points through first three games in comparison to 89 points this time last year. Baylor took a wild 70-63 game last year in Morgantown…Bears 48 WVU 17
#18 FLORIDA (-11 ½) over Arkansas: Gators 27 Arkansas 13
Minnesota (+20) over #19 MICHIGAN: Gilded Gerbils pulled-off four straight wins before being stifled through the better-part of three quarters by Iowa. The victories, however, came vs. UNLV (which held its own until the special-teams melt-down), AA Western Illinois (which lost to UNLV by a larger margin), New Mexico State (again, one of the worst teams at the I-A level) and San Jose State (perhaps its best triumph). Big Blew committed eight turnovers in its past two games and was lucky get by Akron and UConn. Even bottom-feeders stand a puncher’s chance with those kinda’ opportunities and maybe Michigan’s youth is more prominent than we thought. Hopefully, the Wolverines used the off-week working on ball-security, but…Michigan 34 Minny 16
#20 Texas Tech (-17 ½) over KANSAS: Red Raiders 38 Jayhawks 13
Kansas State (+14) over #21 OKLAHOMA STATE: Cowpokes 34 KSU 29
Notre Dame (+5) over #22 Arizona State (@ Arlington, TX): Tough to beat a quality opponent like Oklahoma, even at home, when ya toss three picks and complete just 9 of 24 throws like Tommy Rees did. Irish did run for 220 yards, though 80 came on a single rush. Leprechauns are now 0-fer-five against the number and all three SU defeats have been by double-digits. Having said that, a post-season berth is still in play for ND and ASU popped back into the rankings with a 62-41 victory that led USC to finally “Abstain from Lane” and “Stop Whiffin’ with Kiffin”. All of the Sun Devils’ I-A opposition has put up 30 or more and we expect a fair number of points. Little voice in Vindy’s head screamin’ “upset”. And just as a side-note, following its national title loss to Alabama last season, Notre Dame changed the wording over its tunnel entrance to “Got Played Like A Champion Today!”…Our Lady 34 Pitchforks 30
IDAHO (+25 ½) over #23 Fresno State: We considered this for “lock”. Tough supportin’ Bulldogs who continue to give up big points to opponents. Four of State’s five turnovers came in the final 30 minutes, allowing Hawaii to make a thriller outta’ what was a 42-3 halftime hole for Da’ ‘Bows. Vandals, who had given up more than 40 to each of its first four opponents before upsetting Temple last week 26-24, lost by just 10 at home to potent Northern Illinois under first-year coach Paul Petrino. Ain’t no beaches, pineapple or hula-skirts in Moscow, Idaho, but until FSU proves it can play some defense for 60 minutes…Bulldogs 42 Tater-Heads 27
#24 Mississippi (-2 ½) over AUBURN: Ole Mist 20 War Eagle 16
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
BTW, one of the hooded passengers in the KIA commercials looks an awful lot like Bill Belichick!
Iowa State this week falls into Marc Lawrence’s Playbook.Com “back ‘em in Game Four at home” column, having bowled last season, lost its first two outright to AA Northern Iowa and rival-Hawkeyes, then beat Tulsa last week. The Dust Devils (+9) host Texas this Saturday. We noted Syracuse (-15) vs. Tulane in this category last week. ‘Cuse blew the Green Wave off the gridiron in 52-17 romp!
Knowshon Moreno worked some “rock-paper-scissors” into his TD celebration vs. the Eagles a week after the Broncos passed on “Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Mo” in favor of that game to select the ball-carrier for trash-time score vs. Oakland. Nice, but had the game been “Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock”, Sheldon Cooper woulda’ been takin’ the hand-off in Denver’s backfield instead!
With Major League Baseball’s playoffs underway this week, we note not long after the New Year, Vegas became a backdrop for the reality TV show “Pete Rose: Hits & Mrs.” featuring the ex-baseballer and his long-distance relationship with then-fiancée and former Playboy model Kiana Kim. We were hopin’ fer a twist or two, like Ray Fosse throwin’ the bachelor party or showin’ up to the nuptials as Best Man or ring-bearer or something! Just wonderin’ if Charlie Hustle decided to consummate the marriage by divin’ into first-base on the wedding night??!!
In related news, Tom Brady drew a $10,000 levy for a cleats-high slide vs. Ed Reed in last season’s AFC Championship loss to the Ravens. The Patriots pretty-boy QB said he was merely trying to break-up the double-play and keep Wes Welker from being thrown out at First Base. Reed pulled off the old “neighborhood play” then wheeled and threw to Ray Lewis to “turn two”!.
Philly defenders apparently taunted Peyton Manning this Sunday with shouts of “Papa John’s!” every time the Broncos QB audibled. Ironically, a cocktail waitress yelled “Summer’s Eve!” each time Vindicator tried to change his wagers at the sportsbook counter! Come to think of it, fans in the City of Brotherly Love will do likewise whenever the now-1-3 Eagles take the field!
We welcome the puck-drop on the NHL regular season this week as well. The Stanley Cup toured Sin City for 24 hours in late July. Vindy’s spies say the coveted trophy got a lap dance at a local gentlemen’s club, bungee-jumped from the top of the Stratosphere and was then beaten with baseball bats before being buried in the desert!
Have ya seen the latest pics of Miley Cyrus???!!! No offense to Michael Jordan, but we ain’t seen tongue like that since Gene Simmons wore the KISS face-paint! Anybody else out there wanna’ see the pop tart hang her head out the window of a moving car?! BTW, her latest video features her au natural ridin’ the shoulders of a former-Badgers star and now Broncos running back through a stone wall in…”Montee Ball”!
The Olympic torch was lit this past weekend in southern Greece. Given the stance of the Games’ host-government against anything that flames, we’re guessing it’ll never get across the Russian border!
Somebody please tell Verizon that #FOMOF actually stands for “Fear of Missing Out on Forecast!”
Black Shirt: The obsidian undergarment goes to Central Florida QB Blake Bortles for tossing a pair of scoring passes in the final 10 minutes to get UCF within 3 of South Carolina to get us one of our five forecast dubyas!
“Locked in a Box?”: A late touchdown gave Georgia the victory over LSU (+3) and resulted in a push for our “lock” choice, leaving the season record at 3-1-1 (.750).
Shoppe Talk: With the upset of the Cowboys, the Mounted Ears of WVU go to 0-2 (.000) in the forecast and 2-9 (.181) in last 11 appearances! The ‘Noles of FSU racked-up another loss fer Da’ Picks and fall to 1-2 (.333) on the season and 5-10 (.333) in last 15! The Crimson Schnide is under close observation at 0-3-1 (.000) in 2013! KFC gets a pass, but shouldn’t leave town at 1-3 (.250)!
Vindy’s Week 6 Best Bets: Last Week: 2-2 Season: 15-8 (.652, though just 5-4 the last two weeks)
South Alabama +3 ½ over TROY, MARSHALL -14 over Texas-San Antonio, NC State -8 ½ over WAKE FOREST, Texas State +11 ½ over UL-LAFAYETTE, Florida Atlantic +4 ½ over UAB
PROVO, Utah (REUTERS)…An attack-of-conscience at Brigham Young University, following a French vitamin-water company’s marketing snafu over a bottle-cap phrase, which when translated to English, included a term that is used in a derogatory way to describe the mentally-challenged and sparked a product recall, led to revelation of a previously-secret stash of KIA vehicles acquired nearly eight months ago. The unfortunate model name, Provo, created a firestorm when Northern Ireland objected to the name because it was slang for the Provisional Irish Republican Army, the violence-prone segment of the IRA. Thinking car sales would have a better chance in Utah, the manufacturer shipped the autos to the Mormon university. But after reviewing ad campaigns and not wanting students and locals seen on the religious campus in vehicles portrayed in TV commercials as being driven by “hoodie-wearing gangsta’ hamsters”, school officials simply stowed away the clandestine fleet in a little-known underground parking lot beneath LaVell Edwards Stadium!
Not too far away in Vegas, our fab forecaster wanted to conceal Saturday’s 5-5-2 tally as well (40-29-4, .580). Readers can run but they can’t hide from…
THE WEBER KID’S 2013 WEEK 6 FORECAST
(Goin’ pink all month in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness)
THURS. OCT. 3
#12 Ucla (-4 ½) over UTAH: Curiously-low line, though looking at Thursday-night ATS records, the chalk went 6-2 on the season’s opening night. Since then, the team getting points has taken the money in the subsequent eight games-in-question. (FYI, your humble host has been on the right side of the Thursday-nighter just once in four tries and none since August 29). Utes, coming into the year off first losing-season since 2005, beat BYU 20-13 before last week’s bye and dropped a 51-48 track-meet to the Beavers. Bruins are crushing opponents by an average of 34 ppg, including 20-point win in Lincoln. Utes have done little noteworthy since joining the PAC-12, winning just 7 of 19 in conference, with most of the victories coming vs. the lower-tier…Bruins 34 Utes 17
SAT. OCT. 5
Georgia State (+55 ½) over #1 ALABAMA: Will anybody other than possibly AJ McCarron and his teammates on offense, who’ve been limited to 21- and 23-points the past two weeks, give a flyin’ rat’s about this non-conference game vs. FBS-rookie Panthers? Tide won by this many once in the last decade, with 63-7 win over this same Joja’ State club in 2010. Senior-laden Panthers did cover in 41-7 loss three weeks ago at West Virginia. ‘Bama D might consider it an insult to let State score after Ole Miss laid the goose-egg last week, and UA did throw back-to-back shut-outs twice last season…’Bama 51 Georgia State 0
COLORADO (+38) over #2 Oregon: Mallards 51 Bison 19
#3 Clemson (-13 ½) over SYRACUSE: Clemson 31 Syracuse 16
#16 NORTHWESTERN (+6) over #4 Ohio State: Wildcats, off 14-point win over AA Maine, spent last week watchin’ film. Buckeyes, up 17 after three quarters, allowed Wisky the final 10 points to make it a closer game. Buckeyes were outgained by the Badgers but were plus-one in turnovers and QB Braxton Miller was efficient enough in his first start back from injury, adding 83 rushing yards as well. N-DUB’s allowing more points-against than last season, but bring a better ground game than Wisconsin did. The offspring of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West came into the world last summer and got the moniker “North West”. Should said celebrity-daughter grow up and acquire a nursing degree at a certain Evanston school while cheering the Wildcats, would she eventually be known as North West, RN???!!!...OSU 27 NW 24
#5 STANFORD (-7) over #15 Washington: Trees 31 UDUB 21
#6 Georgia (-11) over TENNESSEE: ‘Dawgs could be flat off back-and-forth game vs. LSU, a la ‘Bama’s performance vs. Colorado State following close-win over A&M. Vols let South Alabama hang around even more than we expected when we tagged the Jags (+20) as a preferred-pick last week, as Rocky Top escaped with a 7-point victory. Bulldogs D can be had and Vols lost by 7 between the hedges in 2012 and by 8 the season before that. Tennessee might consider employing the squib-kick strategy used by LSU to limit Joja’s return capability. We think UGA’s Marshall Morgan corked the tip of his kicking-shoe in light of 55-yard FG that cleared the uprights easily despite a kicking-motion more reminiscent of a golfer using a wedge to get outta’ da’ sand-trap!...Georgia 45 Vols 27
#7 Louisville (-33 ½) over TEMPLE: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Redbirds don’t excel off a bye week facing teams with poor SU records, but in the past two weeks, Owls have lost outright to AA Fordham and Idaho while laying more than a touchdown. Rested Cardinals should pad some of Teddy’s passing numbers…Da’ Ville 51 Temple (of Gloom) 6
#25 Maryland (+16) over #8 FLORIDA STATE: We didn’t know how good the Box Turtles were until West Virginia upset Oklahoma State last week. Terps ripped the Mounties 37-0 (one of our best bet calls that week). ‘Noles again proved they might be a tad over-rated, spotting BC a 10-point edge before coming back to win but not cover in Chestnut Hill. FSU does start a freshman at QB, Jameis Winston. Maryland’s young on offense too, but seasoned on defense, though has been beaten handily by the Seminoles the past three years. State shows just a 3-9 spread-record facing Top 25 foes, with two of the three wins coming in the post-season…FSU 27 MD 20
#9 Texas A&M: IDLE (next @ Ole Miss)
#10 Louisiana State (-9) over MISSISSIPPI STATE: LSU 27 MSU 14
#11 OKLAHOMA (-10 ½) over Texas Christian: Sooners 33 Toads 20
#13 SOUTH CAROLINA (-22 ½) over Kentucky: Chicken Nuggets 34 KY 10
#14 MIAMI (-5) over Georgia Tech: Hurricanes 24 Wreck 17
#17 BAYLOR (-27) over West Virginia: Mountaineers continue to haunt us, pulling off upset over Oklahoma State. Apparently, FSU transfer QB Clint Trickett found the offense that had been missing (though WVU did return a pick for a score) in his initial start since 2011. The red zone defense was excellent, but it’ll be probed hard this week by Baylor, who runs well with Lache Seastrunk. Bares’ stop-squad has improved considerably, allowing just 23 points through first three games in comparison to 89 points this time last year. Baylor took a wild 70-63 game last year in Morgantown…Bears 48 WVU 17
#18 FLORIDA (-11 ½) over Arkansas: Gators 27 Arkansas 13
Minnesota (+20) over #19 MICHIGAN: Gilded Gerbils pulled-off four straight wins before being stifled through the better-part of three quarters by Iowa. The victories, however, came vs. UNLV (which held its own until the special-teams melt-down), AA Western Illinois (which lost to UNLV by a larger margin), New Mexico State (again, one of the worst teams at the I-A level) and San Jose State (perhaps its best triumph). Big Blew committed eight turnovers in its past two games and was lucky get by Akron and UConn. Even bottom-feeders stand a puncher’s chance with those kinda’ opportunities and maybe Michigan’s youth is more prominent than we thought. Hopefully, the Wolverines used the off-week working on ball-security, but…Michigan 34 Minny 16
#20 Texas Tech (-17 ½) over KANSAS: Red Raiders 38 Jayhawks 13
Kansas State (+14) over #21 OKLAHOMA STATE: Cowpokes 34 KSU 29
Notre Dame (+5) over #22 Arizona State (@ Arlington, TX): Tough to beat a quality opponent like Oklahoma, even at home, when ya toss three picks and complete just 9 of 24 throws like Tommy Rees did. Irish did run for 220 yards, though 80 came on a single rush. Leprechauns are now 0-fer-five against the number and all three SU defeats have been by double-digits. Having said that, a post-season berth is still in play for ND and ASU popped back into the rankings with a 62-41 victory that led USC to finally “Abstain from Lane” and “Stop Whiffin’ with Kiffin”. All of the Sun Devils’ I-A opposition has put up 30 or more and we expect a fair number of points. Little voice in Vindy’s head screamin’ “upset”. And just as a side-note, following its national title loss to Alabama last season, Notre Dame changed the wording over its tunnel entrance to “Got Played Like A Champion Today!”…Our Lady 34 Pitchforks 30
IDAHO (+25 ½) over #23 Fresno State: We considered this for “lock”. Tough supportin’ Bulldogs who continue to give up big points to opponents. Four of State’s five turnovers came in the final 30 minutes, allowing Hawaii to make a thriller outta’ what was a 42-3 halftime hole for Da’ ‘Bows. Vandals, who had given up more than 40 to each of its first four opponents before upsetting Temple last week 26-24, lost by just 10 at home to potent Northern Illinois under first-year coach Paul Petrino. Ain’t no beaches, pineapple or hula-skirts in Moscow, Idaho, but until FSU proves it can play some defense for 60 minutes…Bulldogs 42 Tater-Heads 27
#24 Mississippi (-2 ½) over AUBURN: Ole Mist 20 War Eagle 16
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
BTW, one of the hooded passengers in the KIA commercials looks an awful lot like Bill Belichick!
Iowa State this week falls into Marc Lawrence’s Playbook.Com “back ‘em in Game Four at home” column, having bowled last season, lost its first two outright to AA Northern Iowa and rival-Hawkeyes, then beat Tulsa last week. The Dust Devils (+9) host Texas this Saturday. We noted Syracuse (-15) vs. Tulane in this category last week. ‘Cuse blew the Green Wave off the gridiron in 52-17 romp!
Knowshon Moreno worked some “rock-paper-scissors” into his TD celebration vs. the Eagles a week after the Broncos passed on “Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Mo” in favor of that game to select the ball-carrier for trash-time score vs. Oakland. Nice, but had the game been “Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock”, Sheldon Cooper woulda’ been takin’ the hand-off in Denver’s backfield instead!
With Major League Baseball’s playoffs underway this week, we note not long after the New Year, Vegas became a backdrop for the reality TV show “Pete Rose: Hits & Mrs.” featuring the ex-baseballer and his long-distance relationship with then-fiancée and former Playboy model Kiana Kim. We were hopin’ fer a twist or two, like Ray Fosse throwin’ the bachelor party or showin’ up to the nuptials as Best Man or ring-bearer or something! Just wonderin’ if Charlie Hustle decided to consummate the marriage by divin’ into first-base on the wedding night??!!
In related news, Tom Brady drew a $10,000 levy for a cleats-high slide vs. Ed Reed in last season’s AFC Championship loss to the Ravens. The Patriots pretty-boy QB said he was merely trying to break-up the double-play and keep Wes Welker from being thrown out at First Base. Reed pulled off the old “neighborhood play” then wheeled and threw to Ray Lewis to “turn two”!.
Philly defenders apparently taunted Peyton Manning this Sunday with shouts of “Papa John’s!” every time the Broncos QB audibled. Ironically, a cocktail waitress yelled “Summer’s Eve!” each time Vindicator tried to change his wagers at the sportsbook counter! Come to think of it, fans in the City of Brotherly Love will do likewise whenever the now-1-3 Eagles take the field!
We welcome the puck-drop on the NHL regular season this week as well. The Stanley Cup toured Sin City for 24 hours in late July. Vindy’s spies say the coveted trophy got a lap dance at a local gentlemen’s club, bungee-jumped from the top of the Stratosphere and was then beaten with baseball bats before being buried in the desert!
Have ya seen the latest pics of Miley Cyrus???!!! No offense to Michael Jordan, but we ain’t seen tongue like that since Gene Simmons wore the KISS face-paint! Anybody else out there wanna’ see the pop tart hang her head out the window of a moving car?! BTW, her latest video features her au natural ridin’ the shoulders of a former-Badgers star and now Broncos running back through a stone wall in…”Montee Ball”!
The Olympic torch was lit this past weekend in southern Greece. Given the stance of the Games’ host-government against anything that flames, we’re guessing it’ll never get across the Russian border!
Somebody please tell Verizon that #FOMOF actually stands for “Fear of Missing Out on Forecast!”
Black Shirt: The obsidian undergarment goes to Central Florida QB Blake Bortles for tossing a pair of scoring passes in the final 10 minutes to get UCF within 3 of South Carolina to get us one of our five forecast dubyas!
“Locked in a Box?”: A late touchdown gave Georgia the victory over LSU (+3) and resulted in a push for our “lock” choice, leaving the season record at 3-1-1 (.750).
Shoppe Talk: With the upset of the Cowboys, the Mounted Ears of WVU go to 0-2 (.000) in the forecast and 2-9 (.181) in last 11 appearances! The ‘Noles of FSU racked-up another loss fer Da’ Picks and fall to 1-2 (.333) on the season and 5-10 (.333) in last 15! The Crimson Schnide is under close observation at 0-3-1 (.000) in 2013! KFC gets a pass, but shouldn’t leave town at 1-3 (.250)!
Vindy’s Week 6 Best Bets: Last Week: 2-2 Season: 15-8 (.652, though just 5-4 the last two weeks)
South Alabama +3 ½ over TROY, MARSHALL -14 over Texas-San Antonio, NC State -8 ½ over WAKE FOREST, Texas State +11 ½ over UL-LAFAYETTE, Florida Atlantic +4 ½ over UAB
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Vindy's Picks Week 5-2013
CHANGES HIT NFL LOCKERROOMS, NCAA SIDELINES
LINCOLN, Nebraska (MSNBC)…An off-season directive by Commissioner Roger Goodell and a quick response to the revelation of a thought-to-be-private rant from two years ago by Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini, bashing the Husker-faithful as “fair-weather fans”, have prompted alterations to football venues at the pro and college levels. College sidelines will now include a portable, glass-enclosed shower with blaring stereo-speakers as a safe-haven for coaches to vent, like characters in the movies who know they’re being bugged utilize. In addition, locker rooms across the National Football League will be equipped with cameras as part of the plan for “enhancing the fan experience in our stadiums”. The live-feeds, a la Big Brother, of players brandishing guns, taking PEDS and snapping each other on the ass with a towel are expected to eventually generate on-air apologies from officials, akin to those offered in The Running Man by game-show host “Killian” (as portrayed by Richard Dawson), who implored the viewing-audience for a little indulgence, quipping “Please!...Ladies and gentlemen!...We’re experiencing video-difficulties beyond our control!”
Despite Vindy’s Week Four tally of 8-6 and a season-record proclaiming 35-24-2 (.593), in a test-run of the new allegedly-voice-secure digs, Pelini could still be heard bad-mouthing…
THE WEBER KID’S 2013 WEEK 5 FORECAST
(Better than queening dishes for AT&T!)
#21 Mississippi (+16) over #1 ALABAMA: As we feared, but ignored against our better-judgment, Tide offense was flat as a damn pancake in let-down vs. the Rams, showing only 66 rushing yards and 7 of 31 points coming via an early blocked-punt return. Rebels have three outright victories and 2-0 spread record, including nice win over Texas. Ole Miss has a truckload of returning starters and lotsa’ depth from team that had three of six SU defeats by 6 or less last season, including close losses to A&M and at LSU. Mississippi, profitable off a bye week, should be primed to stay within the number vs. not-quite-as-invincible-as-2012 Alabama after losing by 19 last year in Oxford …’Bama 24 Ole Miss 16
#2 OREGON (-36) over California: 12-PACK opener for both teams, who were both off last week. Ducks have been the wager in just 1 of last 6 layin’ this kinda’ lumber at home, but Bares show only outright win as 37-30 over FCS Portland State sandwiched between losses at home by 18 to the Buckeyes and 14 to Northwestern. Drakes are bangin’ the boards at an average of 61 ppg. Cal’s only hope here is that Chip Kelly’s current charges hop a plane from the City of Brotherly Love to Eugene…Mallards 51 Berkeley 12
Wake Forest (+28) over #3 CLEMSON: Tigers 34 Deacons 14
#23 Wisconsin (+7) over #4 OHIO STATE: We’re considering the number of points the Buckeyes have yielded to Cal…and Buffalo. State’s won the last two years in this series, both times in a ‘dog role. Neither was decided by more than a touchdown. Kenny Guiton, starting for OSU, tossed six TD passes in rout of AA Florida A&M, but Bucks (one of four FBS teams to score at least 70 last week) expect to have Braxton Miller under center for this one. We’ll lay off the upset call here since Buckeyes have won 24 of last 26 at Da’ Shoe, but we really can’t gauge true caliber yet, though they won’t likely allow themselves to be drawn into a track-meet. Wisky at least has faced (and probably coulda’ beaten) Arizona State. De facto Leaders Division title game…State 24 Wisky 21
Washington State (+10 ½) over #5 STANFORD: Trees 30 Wazzou 24
#6 Louisiana State (+3) over #9 GEORGIA: MINOR UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK. LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Tigers had some work to do after 14-point win over Auburn, needing to shore-up the run-defense that let War Eagle RB Tre Mason go for a buck-thirty-two, and some discipline after absorbing 10 penalty flags. Last meeting was 2011 SEC Title game, won 42-10 by the Bengals. Joja’ found itself in a 3rd Quarter tie-game on the heels of Mean Green’s 99-yard kickoff return for a score and blocked punt that also put seven on UNT’s side of the scoreboard before pushing away. LSU is nice 10-3 money-line wager over last three seasons on the road and while former Dawg QB Zach Mettenberger verbally points away from that association, you know he wants a little redemption. Expect Les Miles to pull some stunt to get his guys the win…LSU 31 Joja’ 24
#7 Louisville: IDLE (next @ Temple)
#8 Florida State (-22) over BOSTON COLLEGE: Seminoles 35 Eagles 10
#10 Texas A&M @ ARKANSAS: OFF
#11 Oklahoma State (-19 ½) over WEST VIRGINIA: Cowpokes, idle last week, let a competitive-but-relative newcomer UTSA club hit the scoreboard for 34, but ‘Eers have 2-2 SU record with only triumphs coming over AA William & Mary and FBS newbie Joja’ State. WVU held Oklahoma to just 16, but the offense looks completely lost without four-year-starter-now-NFL-QB Geno Smith. We raised a glass to the Morganbillies for their scoreless effort vs. Maryland last week that brought home one of our best bet selections…OKSU 38 WVU 14
CENTRAL FLORIDA (+7) over #12 South Carolina: We turned off the PSU-UCF game in disgust after watchin’ QB Blake Bortles and his Golden Knights carve up the alma mater’s defense en route to an 18-point lead and eventual 3-point road-win two weeks ago, so we’re not totally amazed by this fairly-short line vs. an SEC contender. Both sides were idle last week, so there’s been plenty of film-study. Knights are 3-0 SU/ATS, but the other pair of wins came vs. Akron and Florida International squad that’s challenging New Mexico State for worst I-A team. UCF hangin’ around just beyond the Top 25 boundary and Da’ Nuggets have won 7 of last 9 decided by a TD or less, but covered only 3…KFC 29 UCF 24
#13 UCLA: IDLE (next @ Utah 10/3)
#14 Oklahoma (-3 ½) over #22 NOTRE DAME: Leprechauns are on borrowed time and the spread reflects that. Sparty had multiple opportunities to beat Notre Dame last week, but were plagued by dropped balls on offense, a missed FG in the kicking game and four pass-interference penalties that revived Irish drives. Lucky Charms are now 0-fer-four ATS and Michigan State pressured Tommy Rees into throwin’ a lotta’ balls well-past the sidelines. Sooners show unfavorable spread-record in last six decided by 7 or less and even worse vs. ranked opponents, but…Sooners 23 ND 16
#15 Miami @ SOUTH FLORIDA: OFF
#16 WASHINGTON (-8) over Arizona: Contrary to our initial assessment, Sled Dogs look like they could be the real-deal this season…or are at least bowl-worthy after appropriately smashing FCS Idaho State 56-0, taking a 42-point halftime edge. Huskies defense looks decent, giving up just 30 points over first three games. Arizona comes in undefeated after three games, with victories over AA Northern Arizona, and UNLV, who held its own until the special teams developed a major case of the dumb-ass! We think ‘Cats won’t be “keepin’ up with the Sarkisians”… UDUB 31 Arizona 20
#17 Northwestern: IDLE (next vs. Ohio State)
#18 Michigan: IDLE (next vs. Minnesota)
#19 Baylor: IDLE (next vs. West Virginia)
#20 Florida (-13 ½) over KENTUCKY: UF QB Jeff Driskel’s out for the season with a broken leg, meaning Florida go all “’Bama” and turn it over to the rushing game and the D. Kentucky also will run frequently out of the spread offense…Gators 28 KY 13
#24 Texas Tech: IDLE (next @ Kansas)
#25 Fresno State @ HAWAII: OFF (but we’ll give ya our thoughts anyway)…Coach Tim Deruyter helped the Bulldogs improve points-scored by about 10 ppg, while lowering points-against by 11 ppg, leading to nifty 10 covers in 12 tries last season. State went 7-0 as double-digit chalk, but 6 were in conference and the other came vs. Colorado team that had a lone SU win (a one-point victory over Wazzou) and lost to AA Sacramento State. Bulldogs survived a couple of shoot-outs at Rutgers and vs. Boise, winning each by a single point, and could easily be 0-2, thus nowhere near the Top 25. The offense looks good. The D?…not so much, allowing two touchdowns more per game than in 2012. ‘Bows’ best chance for an outright victory comes in a couple weeks here in Sin City and in late November vs. Army. Margin of loss continues to increase for UH…going from 17 to 19 to 22 last week at Reno, but Islanders still took the money in two of those three.
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
BTW, the NSA has one of Husker coach’s e-mails referring to Vindy as a “!@!%#!! fair-weather forecaster!” A word of advice to the Big Dread coach…”Crank it to eleven!” An unidentified spokesperson for that agency also said they’ve had audio and videotape from NFL locker-rooms “for years!”
Effective with the 2014 season, the Big Tent-Peg Conference is reverting back to “East” and “West” divisions, waving buh-bye to the “Legends” and “Leaders” tags. Frankly, we always thought “Legerdemains” and “Bleeders” had a nice ring!
Speaking of issues in the Big Tantrum Conference….Jen Vrabel vs. Jen Bielema in Twitter-wars???!!! Playing soon on Bravo…“Real Not-in-My-House-Wives of the NCAA???!!!”
Following its broadcast by the home stadium-operator during the Cincinnati Bengals’ win over the Steelers, the team put da’ kibosh on any future playing of Katy Perry’s “Roar”. In fact, officials said they would sooner welcome karaoke tunes by Refrigerator Perry…or even…Admiral Perry! Given Bengals’ narrow-escape vs. the Packers, in which the hometown heroes rendered-useless a 14-0 start and saw a subsequent 16-point hole before managing the victory this weekend, perhaps “The One That Got Away” was nearly the appropriate choice by the pop-artist! Maybe “George of the Jungle” should be kept on the I-Pod just in case. Given lyrics about having “the eye of the tiger”, Vindicator immediately flashed back to a certain boxing-movie featuring Mr. T as Clubber Lang. Can anybody out there picture Mickey yellin’ …”I wanna’ hear ya roar, Rock!...I wanna’ hear ya roar!” (Yeah, we couldn’t either!). “Lions… without eyes of the tiger…oh my!”
In related news, Vindicator made quiche fer a girl…and she liiiiiiked it!
The newly-proposed Oakland mascot “The Raider Rusher” reminds us of a ‘roid-rage version of Buckeyes mascot, Brutus, or for our fellow Marvel Comics geeks…MODOK!
Floyd Mayweather wants to replace Justin Bieber with Miley Cyrus as his escort to the ring in his next fight. In all honesty, Vindy prefers Amanda Bynes as his dysfunctional sportsbook-entrance arm-candy!
Black Shirt: The coveted undergarment goes to Texas State RB Robert Lowe for a 49-yard TD run early in the 3rd Quarter vs. Texas Tech for the Bobcats’ (+26 ½) only score, which allowed Vindy to enjoy the protection of the “hook” in 33-7 loss.
“Wish I Had That One Back”: Yep…we want our ‘Bama -40 pick over Colorado State back after we sallied-forth despite our letdown/sandwich spot concerns in the Week Four write-up.
“Locked in a Box?”: Michigan had to rally against lower-tier competition in back-to-back weeks and posts our first “lock” loss on the year (3-1, .750).
Shoppe Talk: The Uclans (-42) beat the line vs. dismal NMSU team to go 1-2 in the forecast and 4-9 (.308) over the past 13 appearances in da’ Picks!
Vindy’s Week 5 Best Bets: Last Week: 3-2 Season: 13-6 (.684)
BOWLING GREEN -16 over Akron, South Alabama +21 over TENNESSEE, Colorado +10 ½ over OREGON STATE, Troy-DUKE “under” 67 ½
LINCOLN, Nebraska (MSNBC)…An off-season directive by Commissioner Roger Goodell and a quick response to the revelation of a thought-to-be-private rant from two years ago by Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini, bashing the Husker-faithful as “fair-weather fans”, have prompted alterations to football venues at the pro and college levels. College sidelines will now include a portable, glass-enclosed shower with blaring stereo-speakers as a safe-haven for coaches to vent, like characters in the movies who know they’re being bugged utilize. In addition, locker rooms across the National Football League will be equipped with cameras as part of the plan for “enhancing the fan experience in our stadiums”. The live-feeds, a la Big Brother, of players brandishing guns, taking PEDS and snapping each other on the ass with a towel are expected to eventually generate on-air apologies from officials, akin to those offered in The Running Man by game-show host “Killian” (as portrayed by Richard Dawson), who implored the viewing-audience for a little indulgence, quipping “Please!...Ladies and gentlemen!...We’re experiencing video-difficulties beyond our control!”
Despite Vindy’s Week Four tally of 8-6 and a season-record proclaiming 35-24-2 (.593), in a test-run of the new allegedly-voice-secure digs, Pelini could still be heard bad-mouthing…
THE WEBER KID’S 2013 WEEK 5 FORECAST
(Better than queening dishes for AT&T!)
#21 Mississippi (+16) over #1 ALABAMA: As we feared, but ignored against our better-judgment, Tide offense was flat as a damn pancake in let-down vs. the Rams, showing only 66 rushing yards and 7 of 31 points coming via an early blocked-punt return. Rebels have three outright victories and 2-0 spread record, including nice win over Texas. Ole Miss has a truckload of returning starters and lotsa’ depth from team that had three of six SU defeats by 6 or less last season, including close losses to A&M and at LSU. Mississippi, profitable off a bye week, should be primed to stay within the number vs. not-quite-as-invincible-as-2012 Alabama after losing by 19 last year in Oxford …’Bama 24 Ole Miss 16
#2 OREGON (-36) over California: 12-PACK opener for both teams, who were both off last week. Ducks have been the wager in just 1 of last 6 layin’ this kinda’ lumber at home, but Bares show only outright win as 37-30 over FCS Portland State sandwiched between losses at home by 18 to the Buckeyes and 14 to Northwestern. Drakes are bangin’ the boards at an average of 61 ppg. Cal’s only hope here is that Chip Kelly’s current charges hop a plane from the City of Brotherly Love to Eugene…Mallards 51 Berkeley 12
Wake Forest (+28) over #3 CLEMSON: Tigers 34 Deacons 14
#23 Wisconsin (+7) over #4 OHIO STATE: We’re considering the number of points the Buckeyes have yielded to Cal…and Buffalo. State’s won the last two years in this series, both times in a ‘dog role. Neither was decided by more than a touchdown. Kenny Guiton, starting for OSU, tossed six TD passes in rout of AA Florida A&M, but Bucks (one of four FBS teams to score at least 70 last week) expect to have Braxton Miller under center for this one. We’ll lay off the upset call here since Buckeyes have won 24 of last 26 at Da’ Shoe, but we really can’t gauge true caliber yet, though they won’t likely allow themselves to be drawn into a track-meet. Wisky at least has faced (and probably coulda’ beaten) Arizona State. De facto Leaders Division title game…State 24 Wisky 21
Washington State (+10 ½) over #5 STANFORD: Trees 30 Wazzou 24
#6 Louisiana State (+3) over #9 GEORGIA: MINOR UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK. LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Tigers had some work to do after 14-point win over Auburn, needing to shore-up the run-defense that let War Eagle RB Tre Mason go for a buck-thirty-two, and some discipline after absorbing 10 penalty flags. Last meeting was 2011 SEC Title game, won 42-10 by the Bengals. Joja’ found itself in a 3rd Quarter tie-game on the heels of Mean Green’s 99-yard kickoff return for a score and blocked punt that also put seven on UNT’s side of the scoreboard before pushing away. LSU is nice 10-3 money-line wager over last three seasons on the road and while former Dawg QB Zach Mettenberger verbally points away from that association, you know he wants a little redemption. Expect Les Miles to pull some stunt to get his guys the win…LSU 31 Joja’ 24
#7 Louisville: IDLE (next @ Temple)
#8 Florida State (-22) over BOSTON COLLEGE: Seminoles 35 Eagles 10
#10 Texas A&M @ ARKANSAS: OFF
#11 Oklahoma State (-19 ½) over WEST VIRGINIA: Cowpokes, idle last week, let a competitive-but-relative newcomer UTSA club hit the scoreboard for 34, but ‘Eers have 2-2 SU record with only triumphs coming over AA William & Mary and FBS newbie Joja’ State. WVU held Oklahoma to just 16, but the offense looks completely lost without four-year-starter-now-NFL-QB Geno Smith. We raised a glass to the Morganbillies for their scoreless effort vs. Maryland last week that brought home one of our best bet selections…OKSU 38 WVU 14
CENTRAL FLORIDA (+7) over #12 South Carolina: We turned off the PSU-UCF game in disgust after watchin’ QB Blake Bortles and his Golden Knights carve up the alma mater’s defense en route to an 18-point lead and eventual 3-point road-win two weeks ago, so we’re not totally amazed by this fairly-short line vs. an SEC contender. Both sides were idle last week, so there’s been plenty of film-study. Knights are 3-0 SU/ATS, but the other pair of wins came vs. Akron and Florida International squad that’s challenging New Mexico State for worst I-A team. UCF hangin’ around just beyond the Top 25 boundary and Da’ Nuggets have won 7 of last 9 decided by a TD or less, but covered only 3…KFC 29 UCF 24
#13 UCLA: IDLE (next @ Utah 10/3)
#14 Oklahoma (-3 ½) over #22 NOTRE DAME: Leprechauns are on borrowed time and the spread reflects that. Sparty had multiple opportunities to beat Notre Dame last week, but were plagued by dropped balls on offense, a missed FG in the kicking game and four pass-interference penalties that revived Irish drives. Lucky Charms are now 0-fer-four ATS and Michigan State pressured Tommy Rees into throwin’ a lotta’ balls well-past the sidelines. Sooners show unfavorable spread-record in last six decided by 7 or less and even worse vs. ranked opponents, but…Sooners 23 ND 16
#15 Miami @ SOUTH FLORIDA: OFF
#16 WASHINGTON (-8) over Arizona: Contrary to our initial assessment, Sled Dogs look like they could be the real-deal this season…or are at least bowl-worthy after appropriately smashing FCS Idaho State 56-0, taking a 42-point halftime edge. Huskies defense looks decent, giving up just 30 points over first three games. Arizona comes in undefeated after three games, with victories over AA Northern Arizona, and UNLV, who held its own until the special teams developed a major case of the dumb-ass! We think ‘Cats won’t be “keepin’ up with the Sarkisians”… UDUB 31 Arizona 20
#17 Northwestern: IDLE (next vs. Ohio State)
#18 Michigan: IDLE (next vs. Minnesota)
#19 Baylor: IDLE (next vs. West Virginia)
#20 Florida (-13 ½) over KENTUCKY: UF QB Jeff Driskel’s out for the season with a broken leg, meaning Florida go all “’Bama” and turn it over to the rushing game and the D. Kentucky also will run frequently out of the spread offense…Gators 28 KY 13
#24 Texas Tech: IDLE (next @ Kansas)
#25 Fresno State @ HAWAII: OFF (but we’ll give ya our thoughts anyway)…Coach Tim Deruyter helped the Bulldogs improve points-scored by about 10 ppg, while lowering points-against by 11 ppg, leading to nifty 10 covers in 12 tries last season. State went 7-0 as double-digit chalk, but 6 were in conference and the other came vs. Colorado team that had a lone SU win (a one-point victory over Wazzou) and lost to AA Sacramento State. Bulldogs survived a couple of shoot-outs at Rutgers and vs. Boise, winning each by a single point, and could easily be 0-2, thus nowhere near the Top 25. The offense looks good. The D?…not so much, allowing two touchdowns more per game than in 2012. ‘Bows’ best chance for an outright victory comes in a couple weeks here in Sin City and in late November vs. Army. Margin of loss continues to increase for UH…going from 17 to 19 to 22 last week at Reno, but Islanders still took the money in two of those three.
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
BTW, the NSA has one of Husker coach’s e-mails referring to Vindy as a “!@!%#!! fair-weather forecaster!” A word of advice to the Big Dread coach…”Crank it to eleven!” An unidentified spokesperson for that agency also said they’ve had audio and videotape from NFL locker-rooms “for years!”
Effective with the 2014 season, the Big Tent-Peg Conference is reverting back to “East” and “West” divisions, waving buh-bye to the “Legends” and “Leaders” tags. Frankly, we always thought “Legerdemains” and “Bleeders” had a nice ring!
Speaking of issues in the Big Tantrum Conference….Jen Vrabel vs. Jen Bielema in Twitter-wars???!!! Playing soon on Bravo…“Real Not-in-My-House-Wives of the NCAA???!!!”
Following its broadcast by the home stadium-operator during the Cincinnati Bengals’ win over the Steelers, the team put da’ kibosh on any future playing of Katy Perry’s “Roar”. In fact, officials said they would sooner welcome karaoke tunes by Refrigerator Perry…or even…Admiral Perry! Given Bengals’ narrow-escape vs. the Packers, in which the hometown heroes rendered-useless a 14-0 start and saw a subsequent 16-point hole before managing the victory this weekend, perhaps “The One That Got Away” was nearly the appropriate choice by the pop-artist! Maybe “George of the Jungle” should be kept on the I-Pod just in case. Given lyrics about having “the eye of the tiger”, Vindicator immediately flashed back to a certain boxing-movie featuring Mr. T as Clubber Lang. Can anybody out there picture Mickey yellin’ …”I wanna’ hear ya roar, Rock!...I wanna’ hear ya roar!” (Yeah, we couldn’t either!). “Lions… without eyes of the tiger…oh my!”
In related news, Vindicator made quiche fer a girl…and she liiiiiiked it!
The newly-proposed Oakland mascot “The Raider Rusher” reminds us of a ‘roid-rage version of Buckeyes mascot, Brutus, or for our fellow Marvel Comics geeks…MODOK!
Floyd Mayweather wants to replace Justin Bieber with Miley Cyrus as his escort to the ring in his next fight. In all honesty, Vindy prefers Amanda Bynes as his dysfunctional sportsbook-entrance arm-candy!
Black Shirt: The coveted undergarment goes to Texas State RB Robert Lowe for a 49-yard TD run early in the 3rd Quarter vs. Texas Tech for the Bobcats’ (+26 ½) only score, which allowed Vindy to enjoy the protection of the “hook” in 33-7 loss.
“Wish I Had That One Back”: Yep…we want our ‘Bama -40 pick over Colorado State back after we sallied-forth despite our letdown/sandwich spot concerns in the Week Four write-up.
“Locked in a Box?”: Michigan had to rally against lower-tier competition in back-to-back weeks and posts our first “lock” loss on the year (3-1, .750).
Shoppe Talk: The Uclans (-42) beat the line vs. dismal NMSU team to go 1-2 in the forecast and 4-9 (.308) over the past 13 appearances in da’ Picks!
Vindy’s Week 5 Best Bets: Last Week: 3-2 Season: 13-6 (.684)
BOWLING GREEN -16 over Akron, South Alabama +21 over TENNESSEE, Colorado +10 ½ over OREGON STATE, Troy-DUKE “under” 67 ½
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Vindy's Picks Week 4-2013
FINGER JEWELRY AT HEART OF SYRIA RESOLUTION
MOSCOW, Russia (Itar-TASS)…Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov brokered a deal on Saturday, staving off U.S. military action against Syria. The agreement, which allows the former Soviet Union to oversee the dismantling of Syrian chemical-weapons production, was set in stone when Lavrov finally caved and promised Vladimir Putin would return Robert Kraft’s Super Bowl ring. In June, New England officials rebuked the Russian president’s offer to make the Patriots owner a new “expensive one outta’ good metal and rock”. Putin also allegedly misappropriated one of Nick Saban’s national championship rings. The Tide coach, after seeing his team beat Texas A&M on the road this past weekend, shrugged-off the incident quickly, saying “No big deal. I’ll have another one soon enough.”
In related news, Silver State senator Harry Reid was caught just after the New Year tryin’ to lift a ceremonial pen at Obama’s inauguration and was ultimately given one from inside the Commander-in-Chief’s jacket. The Nevada politician was also recently seen trying to make-off with the quill Vindy (who went 8-5-2 [27-18-2, .600]), used to scribe…
THE WEBER KID’S 2013 WEEK 4 FORECAST
(“Winning, D’uh!”)
THURS. SEPT. 19
#3 Clemson (-14) over NC STATE: Clemson 34 Wolfpack 17
SAT. SEPT. 21
#1 ALABAMA (-40) over Colorado State: Changed our initial choice here. Original concern was (is?) possible letdown spot in sandwich game for ‘Bama, between last week’s 2013 version of the Game of the Century and a visit from a pretty good (and currently-ranked) Ole Miss club. However, State’s part of Mountain Jest conference that really hasn’t represented to-date. CSU has been a traditionally poor September-ATS team and 26-point neutral site loss to Colorado, followed by 3-point defeat at Tulsa doesn’t inspire us. Nick Saban was clearly not happy with the defensive play in A&M game and we think Coach will challenge the stop-squad to keep Rams outta’ the end zone altogether. Can’t see AJ and company not putting up 48-49, even with a flat first-quarter. Best guess for “wish I had it back”, but…Alabama 48 Colorado State 6
#2 Oregon: IDLE (next vs. Cal)
Florida A&M @ #4 OHIO STATE: No line.
#5 STANFORD (-7) over #23 Arizona State: The only pairing of Top 25 clubs this week…and it shouldn’t have been. Possible conference title-game preview if Ducks and Bruins falter somewhere, but we’ll figure it’s a bronze-medal match for now. Army’s triple-option kept Cardinal off-balance long enough to post 20 in a cover last week, but Pitchforks will use the run only as an afterthought. Trees played nine games last season decided by 7 or less, winning 7, though covering only 4. Badgers RB Gordon ran for nearly 200 yards vs. ASU and Stanford claims own potent rushing game. Pitchforks are 1-4-2 getting points on the road last two years. Collectively, these two clubs have failed ATS in three games vs. FBS squads. Last meeting (2010) resulted in 17-13 victory by the Cardinal. If the NCAA football pantheon is fair and equitable, it’s…Stanford 34 ASU 24
Auburn (+18) over #6 LSU: We considered this as our first underdog pick on the season for “lock of da’ week”. We thank the Bengals for letting off the throttle vs. Kent State at about the 11-minute mark to give the spread-win to the Gilded Flushes, permitting our fab forecaster to hang one in the win-column. We are, however, surprised to see LSU QB Mettenberger played the entirety of the game given this one on the horizon and the decision well-in-hand after 45 minutes of play. Bengals show three straight “overs” and play in third consecutive home-game. Marc Lawrence notes 7 of State’s 8 SEC tilts were decided by 8 or less last season, including a 12-10 victory at Aubie. Les Miles teams are seriously-go-against in conference home-openers and War Eagle, 3-0 SU/1-2 ATS in 2013, sucks dirty pond-water vs. ranked squads, but welcomes back former OC Gus Malzahn after two-year hiatus…LSU 27 Auburn 19
Florida International (+41) over #7 LOUISVILLE: FIU managed only 9 first-downs and was outgained by 120 yards on offense in 34-13 loss to then-#23 FCS squad Bethune-Cookman. Another sluggish beginning by Teddy Bridgewater off rivalry win over Kentucky last week could possibly keep da’ Panthers, who lost by 33 at Maryland and 38 to Central Florida, in it for awhile. International beat the Redbirds 24-17 at Louisville in 2011 and lost close 28-21decision to Da’ Ville in Miami in 2012, but has few returning starters from those games and we’ll call it…UL 38 FIU 0
Bethune-Cookman @ #8 FLORIDA STATE: No line.
North Texas (+32) over #9 GEORGIA: Joja’ 35 Mean Green 13
#10 TEXAS A&M (-28 ½) over Southern Methodist: We looked at this for “lock of da’ week”. After 21-point final stanza that saw Aggies’ attempted-comeback from 3-TD-deficit come up empty against ‘Bama, we got one word fer this week…”catharsis”. Johnny Banana-Peel should see this as an egotistical-opportunity to still vie for some back-to-back Heisman hardware, even if he struggles early in the aftermath of defeat by Tide. A&M has a history of successful covers vs. Southern Methadone, who began the year losing by 18 at now-ranked Texas Tech and slipping past AA Montana State 31-30 last week. The problem for A&M, of course, is the scoring D, which shows about 30 ppg-against, even before ‘Bama’s 49. Manziel could carry Cadets into the 60’s, but we’ll just say…TAMU 58 SMU 24
#11 Oklahoma State: IDLE (next @West Virginia)
#12 South Carolina: IDLE (next @Central Florida)
New Mexico State (+42) over #13 UCLA: Bruins 48 NMSU 10
#14 Oklahoma: IDLE (next @ Notre Dame)
#15 Michigan (-17 ½) over UCONN: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Line is over-reaction to Wolverines’ late rally to beat lowly Akron in game that saw four UM turnovers, including early 4th Quarter pick-six that gave hope to the Zips. Huskies likely headed for tough season after dropping opener by 15 to AA Towson and an 11-point loss to Maryland (securing one of our Week 3 best bets). Brady Hoke called last week’s match “a glazed doughnut game”, providing said-pastry to the first 5000 fans arriving early for Michigan’s day-matches at home as a continual promotion honoring part of his childhood pre-game ritual. Given the aforementioned Wolverines rally to beat the Zips (+36), perhaps Coach oughta’ just repress that memory! Here’s hopin’ Big Blue doesn’t lose one in Ann Arbor as the result of a long FG bouncin’ off the maple cross-bar!...Michigan 42 Sled Dogs 13
Savannah State @ #16 MIAMI: No line.
Idaho State @ #17 WASHINGTON: No line.
Maine @ #18 NORTHWESTERN: No line.
#19 Florida @ TENNESSEE (+17): Line shot upward after it was announced Jeff Driskel will most likely start for the Gators, but we’re not convinced yet. We expected more from Vols, who drew first-blood vs. Oregon, then got left in the dust in 59-14 rout. Rocky Top is 4-12 ATS in SEC play the last two seasons, actually winning just a pair of those 16 contests. Tennessee lost by 17 in the Swamp in last year’s battle. Crocs are 0-2 ATS following upset loss (as we called!) at Miami. Too many to give until Florida shows more on offense… Gators 28 Tennessee 14
#20 BAYLOR (-29) over Weeziana-Monroe: Bears 51 ULM 20
#21 Mississippi: IDLE (next @ Alabama)
Michigan State (+6 ½) over #22 NOTRE DAME: UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK. Neither side has been impressive in their victories and Irish are a couple plays away from 1-2 SU after scoring 21 points in about 3 ½ minutes to start the 4th Quarter of come-from-behind win over Purdue last week. Spartans got no love from the poll-voters last week after pounding FCS Y-Town State and remain just beyond the Top 25. Leprechauns are 0-3 ATS on the year, but 3-0 ATS last three years vs. State, including 20-3 win over then-#10 Michigan State squad. Sparty’s won 15 of 18 non-Big Tenuous contests the past three-plus seasons but is 1-4 ATS in last 5 tries vs. ranked opponents. Purdue was pass-heavy, Spartans will lean more to the turf…MSU 23 ND 20
Purdue (+25) over #24 WISCONSIN: Morale could be an issue for both sides given aforementioned rally by Notre Dame to beat Purdue and game that was stolen by the zebras from Wisconsin. Badgers have owned PU, winning and covering last three years, though just once by more than 25. Boilers used good air-game vs. the Irish and Wisky’s defensive backfield, that got lit-up for more than 350 passing yards, is suspect. No choice here but to take the generous points. In light of the Wisconsin upset of Arizona State that wasn’t, Badgers QB Joel Stave didn’t throw a single pass in practice this week, instead practicing only the proper taking of a knee!...Badgers 29 Purdue 20
Texas State (+26 ½) over #25 TEXAS TECH: FBS sophomore and Fun Belt newcomer Bobcats opened the year beating a dismal Southern Mist squad in Hattiesburg then knocked off Prairie View 28-3. Red Raiders weren’t kind in 58-10 victory last season, nor in 50-10 win the year before. Tech’s claim-to-fame thus far is 20-10 triumph over then-ranked TCU club missing its starting quarterback in mistake-filled snoozer, which saw five combined turnovers and 23 yellow hankies. Guns Up is 2-7 last three seasons as chalk in Lubbock…Red Raiders 39 TSU 20
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
BTW, overlooked in the whole U.S.-Russia accord was a fine-print statement that requires Time Tebow to accept the offered $1M to participate in a pair of pigskin games for Moscow’s Black Storm! Nobody told the former-Gator stand-out that his soon-to-be-comrades have already reached the playoffs and will face a prison team from the outer-Mongolian gulag…on the road!!
Back in Week One, we noted the Marc Lawrence’s Playbook.Com strategy of wagering on bowl teams from the previous season who drop their first two games SU, then win Game Three outright and host their Game Four opponent. While the first three weeks of 2013 have eliminated many of the possible qualifiers, Syracuse lost games to Vindy’s alma mater and Northwestern prior to blasting FCS squad Wagner 54-0 last week. ‘Cuse (-15) plays at home vs. Tulane this Saturday and will have a sophomore QB Terrel Hunt making his first start.
Other notable FBS-FCS scores…Fordham 30-29 over Temple and Buffalo 26-23 over Stony Brook…in 5OT!
Tim Tebow’s latest post-NFL job op came recently by way of the AFL’s LA KISS, owned by none other than Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. Vindy’s spies say Tebow, in a private work-out for the team, struggled to move around the pocket or scramble while wearing the platform-cleats, but did a bang-up job crooning, “Beth, I know yer lonely…and I hope youuuu’ll be alriiiiiight…’cause me and the boyyys’ll be playin’…all niiiiiiiiiight…”
“Lose one for the Chipper!?”…This August, Chip Kelly was quoted as basically dismissing the value of time-of-possession. Curiously, the bEagles called inexplicable time-outs during San Diego’s final possession in the waning seconds of a 30-30 game, allowing the Chargers to regroup and boot the winning FG!
Black Shirt: Goes to Sooners RB Keith Ford for a three-yard TD carry with 3:21 left vs. Tulsa that got Oklahoma the cover and Vindy a forecast dubya rather than a potential third forecast-push.
“Locked in a Box?”: Cardinals squeaked past the line vs. Kentucky to run our tally to 3-0 (1.000).
Shoppe Talk: UCLA and Oklahoma get weekend passes, but it’s Chicken Cacciatore every night this week on the Shoppe dinner-menu as the Gamehens of South Carolina go to 0-3 for the forecast (.000).
Vindy’s Week 4 Best Bets: Last Week: 3-1 Season: 10-4 (.714)
Western Michigan +17 over IOWA, FLORIDA ATLANTIC +4 over Middle Tennessee State, Marshall +10 over VA TECH, Maryland -5 ½ over West Virginia, Wyoming -2 ½ over AIR FORCE
And if yer scorin’ at home, you know our preferred selections…locks of da’ week and best bets…have gone a collective 13-4 (.764) to-date, meanin’ the local bookies wanna’ bust a Kaepernick in our…um...er…well…you know…!
MOSCOW, Russia (Itar-TASS)…Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov brokered a deal on Saturday, staving off U.S. military action against Syria. The agreement, which allows the former Soviet Union to oversee the dismantling of Syrian chemical-weapons production, was set in stone when Lavrov finally caved and promised Vladimir Putin would return Robert Kraft’s Super Bowl ring. In June, New England officials rebuked the Russian president’s offer to make the Patriots owner a new “expensive one outta’ good metal and rock”. Putin also allegedly misappropriated one of Nick Saban’s national championship rings. The Tide coach, after seeing his team beat Texas A&M on the road this past weekend, shrugged-off the incident quickly, saying “No big deal. I’ll have another one soon enough.”
In related news, Silver State senator Harry Reid was caught just after the New Year tryin’ to lift a ceremonial pen at Obama’s inauguration and was ultimately given one from inside the Commander-in-Chief’s jacket. The Nevada politician was also recently seen trying to make-off with the quill Vindy (who went 8-5-2 [27-18-2, .600]), used to scribe…
THE WEBER KID’S 2013 WEEK 4 FORECAST
(“Winning, D’uh!”)
THURS. SEPT. 19
#3 Clemson (-14) over NC STATE: Clemson 34 Wolfpack 17
SAT. SEPT. 21
#1 ALABAMA (-40) over Colorado State: Changed our initial choice here. Original concern was (is?) possible letdown spot in sandwich game for ‘Bama, between last week’s 2013 version of the Game of the Century and a visit from a pretty good (and currently-ranked) Ole Miss club. However, State’s part of Mountain Jest conference that really hasn’t represented to-date. CSU has been a traditionally poor September-ATS team and 26-point neutral site loss to Colorado, followed by 3-point defeat at Tulsa doesn’t inspire us. Nick Saban was clearly not happy with the defensive play in A&M game and we think Coach will challenge the stop-squad to keep Rams outta’ the end zone altogether. Can’t see AJ and company not putting up 48-49, even with a flat first-quarter. Best guess for “wish I had it back”, but…Alabama 48 Colorado State 6
#2 Oregon: IDLE (next vs. Cal)
Florida A&M @ #4 OHIO STATE: No line.
#5 STANFORD (-7) over #23 Arizona State: The only pairing of Top 25 clubs this week…and it shouldn’t have been. Possible conference title-game preview if Ducks and Bruins falter somewhere, but we’ll figure it’s a bronze-medal match for now. Army’s triple-option kept Cardinal off-balance long enough to post 20 in a cover last week, but Pitchforks will use the run only as an afterthought. Trees played nine games last season decided by 7 or less, winning 7, though covering only 4. Badgers RB Gordon ran for nearly 200 yards vs. ASU and Stanford claims own potent rushing game. Pitchforks are 1-4-2 getting points on the road last two years. Collectively, these two clubs have failed ATS in three games vs. FBS squads. Last meeting (2010) resulted in 17-13 victory by the Cardinal. If the NCAA football pantheon is fair and equitable, it’s…Stanford 34 ASU 24
Auburn (+18) over #6 LSU: We considered this as our first underdog pick on the season for “lock of da’ week”. We thank the Bengals for letting off the throttle vs. Kent State at about the 11-minute mark to give the spread-win to the Gilded Flushes, permitting our fab forecaster to hang one in the win-column. We are, however, surprised to see LSU QB Mettenberger played the entirety of the game given this one on the horizon and the decision well-in-hand after 45 minutes of play. Bengals show three straight “overs” and play in third consecutive home-game. Marc Lawrence notes 7 of State’s 8 SEC tilts were decided by 8 or less last season, including a 12-10 victory at Aubie. Les Miles teams are seriously-go-against in conference home-openers and War Eagle, 3-0 SU/1-2 ATS in 2013, sucks dirty pond-water vs. ranked squads, but welcomes back former OC Gus Malzahn after two-year hiatus…LSU 27 Auburn 19
Florida International (+41) over #7 LOUISVILLE: FIU managed only 9 first-downs and was outgained by 120 yards on offense in 34-13 loss to then-#23 FCS squad Bethune-Cookman. Another sluggish beginning by Teddy Bridgewater off rivalry win over Kentucky last week could possibly keep da’ Panthers, who lost by 33 at Maryland and 38 to Central Florida, in it for awhile. International beat the Redbirds 24-17 at Louisville in 2011 and lost close 28-21decision to Da’ Ville in Miami in 2012, but has few returning starters from those games and we’ll call it…UL 38 FIU 0
Bethune-Cookman @ #8 FLORIDA STATE: No line.
North Texas (+32) over #9 GEORGIA: Joja’ 35 Mean Green 13
#10 TEXAS A&M (-28 ½) over Southern Methodist: We looked at this for “lock of da’ week”. After 21-point final stanza that saw Aggies’ attempted-comeback from 3-TD-deficit come up empty against ‘Bama, we got one word fer this week…”catharsis”. Johnny Banana-Peel should see this as an egotistical-opportunity to still vie for some back-to-back Heisman hardware, even if he struggles early in the aftermath of defeat by Tide. A&M has a history of successful covers vs. Southern Methadone, who began the year losing by 18 at now-ranked Texas Tech and slipping past AA Montana State 31-30 last week. The problem for A&M, of course, is the scoring D, which shows about 30 ppg-against, even before ‘Bama’s 49. Manziel could carry Cadets into the 60’s, but we’ll just say…TAMU 58 SMU 24
#11 Oklahoma State: IDLE (next @West Virginia)
#12 South Carolina: IDLE (next @Central Florida)
New Mexico State (+42) over #13 UCLA: Bruins 48 NMSU 10
#14 Oklahoma: IDLE (next @ Notre Dame)
#15 Michigan (-17 ½) over UCONN: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Line is over-reaction to Wolverines’ late rally to beat lowly Akron in game that saw four UM turnovers, including early 4th Quarter pick-six that gave hope to the Zips. Huskies likely headed for tough season after dropping opener by 15 to AA Towson and an 11-point loss to Maryland (securing one of our Week 3 best bets). Brady Hoke called last week’s match “a glazed doughnut game”, providing said-pastry to the first 5000 fans arriving early for Michigan’s day-matches at home as a continual promotion honoring part of his childhood pre-game ritual. Given the aforementioned Wolverines rally to beat the Zips (+36), perhaps Coach oughta’ just repress that memory! Here’s hopin’ Big Blue doesn’t lose one in Ann Arbor as the result of a long FG bouncin’ off the maple cross-bar!...Michigan 42 Sled Dogs 13
Savannah State @ #16 MIAMI: No line.
Idaho State @ #17 WASHINGTON: No line.
Maine @ #18 NORTHWESTERN: No line.
#19 Florida @ TENNESSEE (+17): Line shot upward after it was announced Jeff Driskel will most likely start for the Gators, but we’re not convinced yet. We expected more from Vols, who drew first-blood vs. Oregon, then got left in the dust in 59-14 rout. Rocky Top is 4-12 ATS in SEC play the last two seasons, actually winning just a pair of those 16 contests. Tennessee lost by 17 in the Swamp in last year’s battle. Crocs are 0-2 ATS following upset loss (as we called!) at Miami. Too many to give until Florida shows more on offense… Gators 28 Tennessee 14
#20 BAYLOR (-29) over Weeziana-Monroe: Bears 51 ULM 20
#21 Mississippi: IDLE (next @ Alabama)
Michigan State (+6 ½) over #22 NOTRE DAME: UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK. Neither side has been impressive in their victories and Irish are a couple plays away from 1-2 SU after scoring 21 points in about 3 ½ minutes to start the 4th Quarter of come-from-behind win over Purdue last week. Spartans got no love from the poll-voters last week after pounding FCS Y-Town State and remain just beyond the Top 25. Leprechauns are 0-3 ATS on the year, but 3-0 ATS last three years vs. State, including 20-3 win over then-#10 Michigan State squad. Sparty’s won 15 of 18 non-Big Tenuous contests the past three-plus seasons but is 1-4 ATS in last 5 tries vs. ranked opponents. Purdue was pass-heavy, Spartans will lean more to the turf…MSU 23 ND 20
Purdue (+25) over #24 WISCONSIN: Morale could be an issue for both sides given aforementioned rally by Notre Dame to beat Purdue and game that was stolen by the zebras from Wisconsin. Badgers have owned PU, winning and covering last three years, though just once by more than 25. Boilers used good air-game vs. the Irish and Wisky’s defensive backfield, that got lit-up for more than 350 passing yards, is suspect. No choice here but to take the generous points. In light of the Wisconsin upset of Arizona State that wasn’t, Badgers QB Joel Stave didn’t throw a single pass in practice this week, instead practicing only the proper taking of a knee!...Badgers 29 Purdue 20
Texas State (+26 ½) over #25 TEXAS TECH: FBS sophomore and Fun Belt newcomer Bobcats opened the year beating a dismal Southern Mist squad in Hattiesburg then knocked off Prairie View 28-3. Red Raiders weren’t kind in 58-10 victory last season, nor in 50-10 win the year before. Tech’s claim-to-fame thus far is 20-10 triumph over then-ranked TCU club missing its starting quarterback in mistake-filled snoozer, which saw five combined turnovers and 23 yellow hankies. Guns Up is 2-7 last three seasons as chalk in Lubbock…Red Raiders 39 TSU 20
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
BTW, overlooked in the whole U.S.-Russia accord was a fine-print statement that requires Time Tebow to accept the offered $1M to participate in a pair of pigskin games for Moscow’s Black Storm! Nobody told the former-Gator stand-out that his soon-to-be-comrades have already reached the playoffs and will face a prison team from the outer-Mongolian gulag…on the road!!
Back in Week One, we noted the Marc Lawrence’s Playbook.Com strategy of wagering on bowl teams from the previous season who drop their first two games SU, then win Game Three outright and host their Game Four opponent. While the first three weeks of 2013 have eliminated many of the possible qualifiers, Syracuse lost games to Vindy’s alma mater and Northwestern prior to blasting FCS squad Wagner 54-0 last week. ‘Cuse (-15) plays at home vs. Tulane this Saturday and will have a sophomore QB Terrel Hunt making his first start.
Other notable FBS-FCS scores…Fordham 30-29 over Temple and Buffalo 26-23 over Stony Brook…in 5OT!
Tim Tebow’s latest post-NFL job op came recently by way of the AFL’s LA KISS, owned by none other than Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. Vindy’s spies say Tebow, in a private work-out for the team, struggled to move around the pocket or scramble while wearing the platform-cleats, but did a bang-up job crooning, “Beth, I know yer lonely…and I hope youuuu’ll be alriiiiiight…’cause me and the boyyys’ll be playin’…all niiiiiiiiiight…”
“Lose one for the Chipper!?”…This August, Chip Kelly was quoted as basically dismissing the value of time-of-possession. Curiously, the bEagles called inexplicable time-outs during San Diego’s final possession in the waning seconds of a 30-30 game, allowing the Chargers to regroup and boot the winning FG!
Black Shirt: Goes to Sooners RB Keith Ford for a three-yard TD carry with 3:21 left vs. Tulsa that got Oklahoma the cover and Vindy a forecast dubya rather than a potential third forecast-push.
“Locked in a Box?”: Cardinals squeaked past the line vs. Kentucky to run our tally to 3-0 (1.000).
Shoppe Talk: UCLA and Oklahoma get weekend passes, but it’s Chicken Cacciatore every night this week on the Shoppe dinner-menu as the Gamehens of South Carolina go to 0-3 for the forecast (.000).
Vindy’s Week 4 Best Bets: Last Week: 3-1 Season: 10-4 (.714)
Western Michigan +17 over IOWA, FLORIDA ATLANTIC +4 over Middle Tennessee State, Marshall +10 over VA TECH, Maryland -5 ½ over West Virginia, Wyoming -2 ½ over AIR FORCE
And if yer scorin’ at home, you know our preferred selections…locks of da’ week and best bets…have gone a collective 13-4 (.764) to-date, meanin’ the local bookies wanna’ bust a Kaepernick in our…um...er…well…you know…!
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Vindy's Picks Week 2-2013
OLYMPIC GRAPPLING AVOIDS GETTING PINNED TO MAT
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (BBC)…Back in February, wrestling got the boot from the Olympic Games for low ratings, but along with baseball-softball and squash, was given a reprieve via second-chance voting in May, leading to this past Sunday’s final opportunity to make the cut. The IOC, with the sport’s supporters outside its venue toting signs bearing the image of Will Farrell’s late-movie character in “The Ladies’ Man”, gave the nod to wrestling over its competitors to be a medal-event in the 2020 Toyko Games. One of the five other sports getting the axe was the martial art of wushu. Officials learned too late that the initial-round ballots contained a typo…listing the sport as “the martial art of mu shu!”…and while the food imagery may have been appealing, the thought of watching athletes kung-fu fighting armed with pork chops and pancakes was not!
Meanwhile, in Sin City, Vindy finds himself perched atop the turnbuckle, ready to pounce, on the heels of Week Two’s 8-5 finish (19-13, .594 season) and hopin’ to put da’ bookies in da’ half-Nelson Riley with…
THE WEBER KID’S 2013 WEEK 3 FORECAST
(As retrieved from the e-mails and phone records of Eric Holder)
THURS. SEPT. 12
#24 Texas Christian (-3) over TEXAS TECH: Toads come in off semi-listless, three-TD win over SE Weeziana and Pachall won’t play in this one after being hurt in that game, but Boykin has established himself as a capable back-up. This one went to triple-OT last year in a 56-53 Tech win. Red Raiders are led by former TTU QB Kliff Kingsbury, in his first year at the helm and haven’t been tested in easy wins at SMU and vs. AA Stephen F. Austin. TCU coaches’ first clue that QB Casey Pachall had a marijuana problem last year was his insistence that coordinators abandon the Frogs’ trade-mark 4-2-5 defense in favor of the 4-2-0!...Frogs 27 Guns Up 20
SAT. SEPT. 14
#1Alabama (-7) over #6 TEXAS A&M: Hats off to the Alabama wide-outs for the nifty footwork that led to narrowly-completed catches along the sidelines while the Hokies’ receivers dropped a number of balls that coulda’ changed the complexion of the game. ‘Bama’s down-playing the whole “revenge” thing, let’s face it, it’ll want a little payback for only defeat of 2012 season. If Aggies are to have a shot to win, Manziel needs to shut his pie-hole other than barking signals at the line-of-scrimmage and limit his hand-gestures to pointing out blitzing linebackers to his O-line. Tide’s covered 7 of 9 as road chalk and 7 of 10 vs. the Top 25, but just 4 of last 7 games with single-digit spreads. ‘Alabama got four sacks vs. A&M last year, but was minus-three in turnovers…Tide 29 A&M 17
Tennessee (+27 ½ ) over #2 OREGON: Ducks, with the aid of four (count ‘em, four!) miscues by the Cavs, pulled away in the second-half to win huge at Virginia, while Vols were busy whacking handicapper-darling Western Kentucky. Rocky Top has beaten 11 of last 13 non-SEC foes, but Oregon obviously ain’t yer standard-issue non-conference opponent. UT, playing first game in an ugly away-slate, does boast a senior-laden O-line and experience on the stop-side as well. Last meeting resulted in 38-13 Mallards victory in 2010…Drakes 41 UT 20
#3 Clemson: IDLE (next @ NC State 9/19)
#4 Ohio State @ CAL: OFF
#5 Stanford (-29) over ARMY: This got consideration for “lock of da’ week”. Trees let San Josie, who scored in each of the first three quarters, hang around long enough to get the cover, as predicted. Keydets got smoked at Ball State 40-19 and have lost 44 fumbles in 2+ years (including 2 last week). The run D needs to improve as well or, off a 2-10 SU season, Coach Ellerson might find himself HALO-jumping into the DMZ on the Korean Peninsula! Black Knights are just 6-15 ATS facing non-service academy clubs and the scoring-defense has regressed steadily since 2009…Stanford 41 Army 9
#7 Louisville (-13 ½) over KENTUCKY: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. UK has two covers in last three years vs. Da’ Ville, but we foresee Kentucky’s young secondary getting’ torched by Teddy Bridgewater…Redbirds 31 Mildcats 10
Kent State (+36) over #8 LSU: LSU 41 Flashes 13
#9 Georgia: IDLE (next vs. North Texas)
#10 FLORIDA STATE (-31) over Nevada: FSU 44 UNR 10
#11 MICHIGAN (-36) over Akron: Big Blue 49 Zips 6
Lamar @ #12 OKLAHOMA STATE: No line.
#13 SOUTH CAROLINA (-13 ½) over Vanderbilt: SC defensive coaches are hatin’ themselves after watchin’ game-film of the Georgia tilt. Gamehens failed vs. Joja’ because they had basically no perimeter defense. Almost every play UGA ran to the sidelines went for positive yardage. A bunch of high snaps from the new center didn’t help either. Poultry special teams also need a little work. (And we’ll credit ‘Dawgs D for keepin’ the Tenders outta’ the end zone over the final 13:55). Admirals hosted now-ranked Ole Miss to 4-point loss and dispatched AA Austin Peay last week by 35. Da’ White Meat won 17-13 in Nashville to open 2012 and is on 13-5 home fave streak… Carolina 29 Vandy 13
#14 OKLAHOMA (-24) over Tulsa: Sooners 37 Tulsa 10
#15 Miami: IDLE (next vs. Savannah State)
#16 Ucla (+5) over #23 NEBRASKA: UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK #1. If Tide-Aggies tilt is a runaway, this could be the most intriguing match-up of the week. Huskers took advantage of a pair of pick-sixes in the opening quarter to hand SoMiss its 14th consecutive SU loss and will be donning all-black uniforms for this one…Bruins 27 Big Dread 24
Western Michigan (+31) over #17 NORTHWESTERN: Tough to go against powerhouse Wildcats, who jumped out to big lead early with a pair of Orange’s four turnovers leading to 10 of its first-half points, before swapping sixes with Syracuse in the final 30 minutes. Broncos lost respectably at Michigan State before becoming yet-another AA-victim, falling 27-23 to Nicholls State in Week Two. WMU has a big passing attack, but enough of a ground game to compliment it. Tallying covers in first two games this season, Wildcats now show 11-5-1 ATS vs. non-conference teams, but while Broncos are young on offense, they’re experienced at the skills and we think they stay close enough unless they cough it up like Syracuse did…NW 37 WMU 17
#18 Florida: IDLE (next vs. Tennessee)
Illinois (+10) over #19 Washington (@ Chicago): Huskies made depleted Boise State team look like mere 1996 or 1997 shadow of itself before getting a bye week. Illini had lost 10 of previous 11 games heading into 2013, but squeaked by FCS Salukis then belted Cincinnati 45-17. Sled Dogs are profitable with rest. UI has journeyman on offense and a young defense…UDUB 21 Illini 17
#20 Wisconsin (+4 ½) over ARIZONA STATE: UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK #2. These teams have collectively played three games this year, resulting in three shutout victories. Having noted our choice, we also think this is best guess for “wish I had back”. Our concern is Badgers’ road history the last two seasons (4-9 ATS), though four of Wisky’s five true road defeats were by 4 or less. UW also needs to figure out how to win the close ones….having sputtered to 1-6 SU/ATS record in games decided by 7 or fewer last season. Gary Andersen’s high-octane offense from the WAC is questionable vs. BCS competition, but we were skeptical of Chip Kelly’s ability to do likewise at the NFL level (see our Eagles comments below). Sun Devils get almost twice as many starters back as last year, remain just outside the Top 25 and have seen a more balanced plan on offense under Todd Graham… Badgers 27 ASU 24
PURDUE (+21) over #21 Notre Dame: We looked at this for “lock” too. Tommy Rees threw for over 300 yards, but Irish, who reportedly penciled-in the BCS Title contest on their schedule in August, were never really in it until late vs. Michigan, in game that wasn’t as close as it ultimately appeared and are now 0-2 against the line. Boilers were hammered at Cincinnati and beat FCS Indy State 20-14 last week. Purdue lost by three in South Bend in 2012 as Leprechauns won six games by single-digits. Touchdown Jesus is mere 5-11-3 under Coach Kelly…ND 27 Choo-Choos 12
#22 Baylor: IDLE (next vs. Weeziana-Monroe)
#25 Mississippi @ TEXAS: OFF
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
BTW, in an effort to help ensure a greater viewership for wrestling, the IOC will permit the use of metal folding chairs and pile-drivers!!!
With potential NCAA sanctions looming, the local Sin City football team, cellar-dweller for the Mountain Jest conference in fans-per-game attendance in 2012, has gotta’ average 15,000 butts in da’ stands per game. The school conjured up a motto of “Sam Jam 2013” for its home-opener vs. the Wildcats of Arizona. Given the 58-13 loss, perhaps “Scam-Jam”, “Slim-Jim” or “Scram-Jam” woulda’ been better. The Hawaii game will be hyped as “Spam-Jam” . And if they’re short going into home-finale and need to exceed capacity for that one…”Cram-Jam”. This summer, Coach Bobby Hauck said his desired result was to get Rebels to the post-season for first time in 13 years. Who knew he was talkin’ about an FCS playoff spot??!!!
Tom Brady referenced Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft’s comments while addressing Johnny Manziels’ foolery, advising the young Aggies QB against being a “turd”. Vindy’s spies say the Crimson Tide band has been practicing a rendition of the Rolling Stones “Turd on the Run”, and for the fans of the legendary musical group who are familiar with the lyrics, “Sweet Virginia”, which it will strike-up every time Johnny takes da’ field!
Possible NY Giants and NY Jets defensive schemes: blitz, zone, man-to-man and…”stop & frisk”?! (Yeah, YEAH…we know they both play home games at the Meadowlands in New Jersey!)
Given the Broncos’ romp over defending NFL champion Baltimore last week after fans, team personnel and a certain Hall-of-Fame QB got their panties in a bunch subsequent to the NFL marketing folks hanging banners of Ravens QB Joe Flacco in Denver to promote the start of the 2013 pro football season, Broncos officials will now put up similar banners of opposing star-players prior to each home game! Come to think of it, so will all the teams on ‘Bama’s road schedule!
In related news, the advertising folks at University of Nevada-Lost Vagrants managed to outsource an effort that ultimately resulted in a billboard for UNLV ticket sales featuring current pigskin coach Bobby Hauck and former-Rebels-but-now-basketball head coach-at-Oklahoma Lon Kruger! That’s basically tantamount to Florida doing likewise with images of hoops coach Billy Donovan and…Urban Meyer!
Sunday’s Las Vegas Review-Journal included the AP summary of the Wyoming-Idaho game, calling the Vandals an “FCS squad”. Idaho is, in fact, an FBS independent! Sounds like somebody else out there needs one of those NCAA conference-realignment coloring-books we noted back in Week One!
After watchin’ the MNF Eagles-Redskins game, we’re thinkin’ Chip Kelly not only brought his playbook from Eugene to the City of Brotherly Love, he brought his whole team! Can’t wait to see Philly play Ohio State in this season’s Rose Bowl…or lose a close one to Auburn in the Super Bowl!!! The Eagles are gonna’ need more uniform-combinations!
In August, NBC Nightly News guy Brian Williams went off-air soon for a few weeks to have surgery to repair an old knee-injury incurred during a prep football game. Vindy’s spies say the patella problem was re-aggravated when the well-respected journalist was subjected to an illegal chop-block near the anchor desk by a jealous intern!
Black Shirt: Goes to Lobos senior RB Kasey Carrier (an apt name for a running back, dontcha’ think?!) who went nearly 300 ground yards and scored the winning touchdown in extras to help Vindy cash the third of three tickets and post a perfect best-bets tally this week. Honorable mention to LSU WR Odell Beckham Jr. for returning a missed-FG attempt 100 yards for a touchdown that prevented what coulda’ been a 49-20 victory and a failed forecast pick for your humble narrator!
“Locked in a Box?”: We’re 2-0 (1.000) behind the Ducks’ second-half throttling of Virginia!
Shoppe Talk: We were on the right side of USC again and the UCLA-FSU tag-team was thankfully idle last week, but Vindy’s linin’ the walls of Ye Olde Taxidermy Shoppe with Mounted Eers after West Virginia (0-1 season and 2-8 [.200] in last 10 at-bats) struck again. We’re also serving notice to Oklahoma and the Nuggets of South Carolina, both at 0-2 to start the 2013 campaign!
Vindy’s Week 3 Best Bets: Last Week: 5-0 Season: 7-3 (.700)
Maryland -7 over UCONN, COLORADO +10 over Fresno State, Northern Illinois -28 over IDAHO, Florida Atlantic +13 over SOUTH FLORIDA, Texas-El Paso -6 over NEW MEXICO STATE
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (BBC)…Back in February, wrestling got the boot from the Olympic Games for low ratings, but along with baseball-softball and squash, was given a reprieve via second-chance voting in May, leading to this past Sunday’s final opportunity to make the cut. The IOC, with the sport’s supporters outside its venue toting signs bearing the image of Will Farrell’s late-movie character in “The Ladies’ Man”, gave the nod to wrestling over its competitors to be a medal-event in the 2020 Toyko Games. One of the five other sports getting the axe was the martial art of wushu. Officials learned too late that the initial-round ballots contained a typo…listing the sport as “the martial art of mu shu!”…and while the food imagery may have been appealing, the thought of watching athletes kung-fu fighting armed with pork chops and pancakes was not!
Meanwhile, in Sin City, Vindy finds himself perched atop the turnbuckle, ready to pounce, on the heels of Week Two’s 8-5 finish (19-13, .594 season) and hopin’ to put da’ bookies in da’ half-Nelson Riley with…
THE WEBER KID’S 2013 WEEK 3 FORECAST
(As retrieved from the e-mails and phone records of Eric Holder)
THURS. SEPT. 12
#24 Texas Christian (-3) over TEXAS TECH: Toads come in off semi-listless, three-TD win over SE Weeziana and Pachall won’t play in this one after being hurt in that game, but Boykin has established himself as a capable back-up. This one went to triple-OT last year in a 56-53 Tech win. Red Raiders are led by former TTU QB Kliff Kingsbury, in his first year at the helm and haven’t been tested in easy wins at SMU and vs. AA Stephen F. Austin. TCU coaches’ first clue that QB Casey Pachall had a marijuana problem last year was his insistence that coordinators abandon the Frogs’ trade-mark 4-2-5 defense in favor of the 4-2-0!...Frogs 27 Guns Up 20
SAT. SEPT. 14
#1Alabama (-7) over #6 TEXAS A&M: Hats off to the Alabama wide-outs for the nifty footwork that led to narrowly-completed catches along the sidelines while the Hokies’ receivers dropped a number of balls that coulda’ changed the complexion of the game. ‘Bama’s down-playing the whole “revenge” thing, let’s face it, it’ll want a little payback for only defeat of 2012 season. If Aggies are to have a shot to win, Manziel needs to shut his pie-hole other than barking signals at the line-of-scrimmage and limit his hand-gestures to pointing out blitzing linebackers to his O-line. Tide’s covered 7 of 9 as road chalk and 7 of 10 vs. the Top 25, but just 4 of last 7 games with single-digit spreads. ‘Alabama got four sacks vs. A&M last year, but was minus-three in turnovers…Tide 29 A&M 17
Tennessee (+27 ½ ) over #2 OREGON: Ducks, with the aid of four (count ‘em, four!) miscues by the Cavs, pulled away in the second-half to win huge at Virginia, while Vols were busy whacking handicapper-darling Western Kentucky. Rocky Top has beaten 11 of last 13 non-SEC foes, but Oregon obviously ain’t yer standard-issue non-conference opponent. UT, playing first game in an ugly away-slate, does boast a senior-laden O-line and experience on the stop-side as well. Last meeting resulted in 38-13 Mallards victory in 2010…Drakes 41 UT 20
#3 Clemson: IDLE (next @ NC State 9/19)
#4 Ohio State @ CAL: OFF
#5 Stanford (-29) over ARMY: This got consideration for “lock of da’ week”. Trees let San Josie, who scored in each of the first three quarters, hang around long enough to get the cover, as predicted. Keydets got smoked at Ball State 40-19 and have lost 44 fumbles in 2+ years (including 2 last week). The run D needs to improve as well or, off a 2-10 SU season, Coach Ellerson might find himself HALO-jumping into the DMZ on the Korean Peninsula! Black Knights are just 6-15 ATS facing non-service academy clubs and the scoring-defense has regressed steadily since 2009…Stanford 41 Army 9
#7 Louisville (-13 ½) over KENTUCKY: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. UK has two covers in last three years vs. Da’ Ville, but we foresee Kentucky’s young secondary getting’ torched by Teddy Bridgewater…Redbirds 31 Mildcats 10
Kent State (+36) over #8 LSU: LSU 41 Flashes 13
#9 Georgia: IDLE (next vs. North Texas)
#10 FLORIDA STATE (-31) over Nevada: FSU 44 UNR 10
#11 MICHIGAN (-36) over Akron: Big Blue 49 Zips 6
Lamar @ #12 OKLAHOMA STATE: No line.
#13 SOUTH CAROLINA (-13 ½) over Vanderbilt: SC defensive coaches are hatin’ themselves after watchin’ game-film of the Georgia tilt. Gamehens failed vs. Joja’ because they had basically no perimeter defense. Almost every play UGA ran to the sidelines went for positive yardage. A bunch of high snaps from the new center didn’t help either. Poultry special teams also need a little work. (And we’ll credit ‘Dawgs D for keepin’ the Tenders outta’ the end zone over the final 13:55). Admirals hosted now-ranked Ole Miss to 4-point loss and dispatched AA Austin Peay last week by 35. Da’ White Meat won 17-13 in Nashville to open 2012 and is on 13-5 home fave streak… Carolina 29 Vandy 13
#14 OKLAHOMA (-24) over Tulsa: Sooners 37 Tulsa 10
#15 Miami: IDLE (next vs. Savannah State)
#16 Ucla (+5) over #23 NEBRASKA: UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK #1. If Tide-Aggies tilt is a runaway, this could be the most intriguing match-up of the week. Huskers took advantage of a pair of pick-sixes in the opening quarter to hand SoMiss its 14th consecutive SU loss and will be donning all-black uniforms for this one…Bruins 27 Big Dread 24
Western Michigan (+31) over #17 NORTHWESTERN: Tough to go against powerhouse Wildcats, who jumped out to big lead early with a pair of Orange’s four turnovers leading to 10 of its first-half points, before swapping sixes with Syracuse in the final 30 minutes. Broncos lost respectably at Michigan State before becoming yet-another AA-victim, falling 27-23 to Nicholls State in Week Two. WMU has a big passing attack, but enough of a ground game to compliment it. Tallying covers in first two games this season, Wildcats now show 11-5-1 ATS vs. non-conference teams, but while Broncos are young on offense, they’re experienced at the skills and we think they stay close enough unless they cough it up like Syracuse did…NW 37 WMU 17
#18 Florida: IDLE (next vs. Tennessee)
Illinois (+10) over #19 Washington (@ Chicago): Huskies made depleted Boise State team look like mere 1996 or 1997 shadow of itself before getting a bye week. Illini had lost 10 of previous 11 games heading into 2013, but squeaked by FCS Salukis then belted Cincinnati 45-17. Sled Dogs are profitable with rest. UI has journeyman on offense and a young defense…UDUB 21 Illini 17
#20 Wisconsin (+4 ½) over ARIZONA STATE: UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK #2. These teams have collectively played three games this year, resulting in three shutout victories. Having noted our choice, we also think this is best guess for “wish I had back”. Our concern is Badgers’ road history the last two seasons (4-9 ATS), though four of Wisky’s five true road defeats were by 4 or less. UW also needs to figure out how to win the close ones….having sputtered to 1-6 SU/ATS record in games decided by 7 or fewer last season. Gary Andersen’s high-octane offense from the WAC is questionable vs. BCS competition, but we were skeptical of Chip Kelly’s ability to do likewise at the NFL level (see our Eagles comments below). Sun Devils get almost twice as many starters back as last year, remain just outside the Top 25 and have seen a more balanced plan on offense under Todd Graham… Badgers 27 ASU 24
PURDUE (+21) over #21 Notre Dame: We looked at this for “lock” too. Tommy Rees threw for over 300 yards, but Irish, who reportedly penciled-in the BCS Title contest on their schedule in August, were never really in it until late vs. Michigan, in game that wasn’t as close as it ultimately appeared and are now 0-2 against the line. Boilers were hammered at Cincinnati and beat FCS Indy State 20-14 last week. Purdue lost by three in South Bend in 2012 as Leprechauns won six games by single-digits. Touchdown Jesus is mere 5-11-3 under Coach Kelly…ND 27 Choo-Choos 12
#22 Baylor: IDLE (next vs. Weeziana-Monroe)
#25 Mississippi @ TEXAS: OFF
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
BTW, in an effort to help ensure a greater viewership for wrestling, the IOC will permit the use of metal folding chairs and pile-drivers!!!
With potential NCAA sanctions looming, the local Sin City football team, cellar-dweller for the Mountain Jest conference in fans-per-game attendance in 2012, has gotta’ average 15,000 butts in da’ stands per game. The school conjured up a motto of “Sam Jam 2013” for its home-opener vs. the Wildcats of Arizona. Given the 58-13 loss, perhaps “Scam-Jam”, “Slim-Jim” or “Scram-Jam” woulda’ been better. The Hawaii game will be hyped as “Spam-Jam” . And if they’re short going into home-finale and need to exceed capacity for that one…”Cram-Jam”. This summer, Coach Bobby Hauck said his desired result was to get Rebels to the post-season for first time in 13 years. Who knew he was talkin’ about an FCS playoff spot??!!!
Tom Brady referenced Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft’s comments while addressing Johnny Manziels’ foolery, advising the young Aggies QB against being a “turd”. Vindy’s spies say the Crimson Tide band has been practicing a rendition of the Rolling Stones “Turd on the Run”, and for the fans of the legendary musical group who are familiar with the lyrics, “Sweet Virginia”, which it will strike-up every time Johnny takes da’ field!
Possible NY Giants and NY Jets defensive schemes: blitz, zone, man-to-man and…”stop & frisk”?! (Yeah, YEAH…we know they both play home games at the Meadowlands in New Jersey!)
Given the Broncos’ romp over defending NFL champion Baltimore last week after fans, team personnel and a certain Hall-of-Fame QB got their panties in a bunch subsequent to the NFL marketing folks hanging banners of Ravens QB Joe Flacco in Denver to promote the start of the 2013 pro football season, Broncos officials will now put up similar banners of opposing star-players prior to each home game! Come to think of it, so will all the teams on ‘Bama’s road schedule!
In related news, the advertising folks at University of Nevada-Lost Vagrants managed to outsource an effort that ultimately resulted in a billboard for UNLV ticket sales featuring current pigskin coach Bobby Hauck and former-Rebels-but-now-basketball head coach-at-Oklahoma Lon Kruger! That’s basically tantamount to Florida doing likewise with images of hoops coach Billy Donovan and…Urban Meyer!
Sunday’s Las Vegas Review-Journal included the AP summary of the Wyoming-Idaho game, calling the Vandals an “FCS squad”. Idaho is, in fact, an FBS independent! Sounds like somebody else out there needs one of those NCAA conference-realignment coloring-books we noted back in Week One!
After watchin’ the MNF Eagles-Redskins game, we’re thinkin’ Chip Kelly not only brought his playbook from Eugene to the City of Brotherly Love, he brought his whole team! Can’t wait to see Philly play Ohio State in this season’s Rose Bowl…or lose a close one to Auburn in the Super Bowl!!! The Eagles are gonna’ need more uniform-combinations!
In August, NBC Nightly News guy Brian Williams went off-air soon for a few weeks to have surgery to repair an old knee-injury incurred during a prep football game. Vindy’s spies say the patella problem was re-aggravated when the well-respected journalist was subjected to an illegal chop-block near the anchor desk by a jealous intern!
Black Shirt: Goes to Lobos senior RB Kasey Carrier (an apt name for a running back, dontcha’ think?!) who went nearly 300 ground yards and scored the winning touchdown in extras to help Vindy cash the third of three tickets and post a perfect best-bets tally this week. Honorable mention to LSU WR Odell Beckham Jr. for returning a missed-FG attempt 100 yards for a touchdown that prevented what coulda’ been a 49-20 victory and a failed forecast pick for your humble narrator!
“Locked in a Box?”: We’re 2-0 (1.000) behind the Ducks’ second-half throttling of Virginia!
Shoppe Talk: We were on the right side of USC again and the UCLA-FSU tag-team was thankfully idle last week, but Vindy’s linin’ the walls of Ye Olde Taxidermy Shoppe with Mounted Eers after West Virginia (0-1 season and 2-8 [.200] in last 10 at-bats) struck again. We’re also serving notice to Oklahoma and the Nuggets of South Carolina, both at 0-2 to start the 2013 campaign!
Vindy’s Week 3 Best Bets: Last Week: 5-0 Season: 7-3 (.700)
Maryland -7 over UCONN, COLORADO +10 over Fresno State, Northern Illinois -28 over IDAHO, Florida Atlantic +13 over SOUTH FLORIDA, Texas-El Paso -6 over NEW MEXICO STATE
Wednesday, September 04, 2013
Vindy's Picks Week 2-2013
PRO FOOTBALL FOCUSES ON ATTIRE AS PLAY BEGINS
WASHINGTON, District of Columbia (Reuters)…”Holy penalty flag, Batman!” Ahead of its 2013 season debut, the No Fashion-Statement League has clamped down on players violating standardized uniform requirements, forbidding the so-called “Bane mask”, which given its modifications, strikes a resemblance to the Batman movie-villain of the same name. The league also invoiced RGIII to the tune of $10,000 for donning an unauthorized T-shirt bearing the words “Operation Patience”…or what SEC cheerleaders would know as “Operashun Patients”… referencing the Redskins’ strategy to keep the quarterback on the pine until the start of live-fire games, during warm-ups prior to the exhibition game vs. the Steelers. Critics say the moves are attempts to turn attention away from bigger issues such as substance abuse and ongoing legal difficulties regarding player concussions. Recommendations include allowing one position, perhaps the quarterback or the field-goal kicker, to wear some sort of uniform variance, a la the NHL’s goalie-masks or a soccer goalie’s jersey showing different colors than his teammates’ garb.
Vindicator, who finished 11-8 (.579) after hitting 10 of Saturday’s 15 games, had planned to return to campus this week, but was also quickly thwarted after school officials claimed he violated the zero-tolerance policy by nibbling his Pop-Tart into the shape of…
THE WEBER KID’S 2013 WEEK 2 FORECAST
(Now with more twerking than a Miley Cyrus appearance!)
SAT. SEPT. 7
#1 Alabama: IDLE (next @ Texas A&M) Coach Saban, and Saban alone apparently, wants a nine-game league schedule. Funny…his detractors would suggest he’s happy with a 6-6-6-game conference slate! Maybe the Tide faithful secretly conduct Sabanic rituals! Nick Saban made me do it! The Saban’s in the details? Nick Saban Wears Prada?
#2 Oregon (-22 ½) over VIRGINIA: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Cavs stole a victory after being out-played by BYU except in return yards and TOP because of late mistakes by the Cougars. Mallards, now led by Mark Helfrich, previously the OC of Drakes’ juggernaut, averaged three-points per minute of possession in 66-3 win over then FCS #8 Nicholls State. Wahoos have been dismal home-dogs and we think Uncle Si takes da’ field for Oregon in the second half…Duck Dynasty 51 Virginia 20
San Diego State (+27 ½) over #3 OHIO STATE: Aztecs, who progressed on both sides of the ball in Rocky Long’s second year as head coach, scored three times in the opening stanza, but contributed to last week’s Mountain Jest debauchery, falling to AA Eastern Illinois 40-19, as the conference collectively-dropped 9 of 12 games outright and went 2-8 ATS. QB Braxton Miller accounted for more than half of Buckeyes 460 yards of total offense vs. Buffalo. We prefer “under” 60, but we’ll call it…OSU 35 SDSU 13
SC State @ #4 CLEMSON: No line.
San Jose State (+26) over #5 STANFORD: Inaugural tilt for the Cardinal, while San Josie at least got to warm-up with live-fire 24-nada game vs. AA Sac(k) State, despite losing all statistical categories except TOP (plus-12 minutes) and points-scored. Led by now-third-year coach Shaw, Trees have posted 19-7-1 spread record and look to be long-shot national crown possibilities. Spartans play third consecutive year at Palo Alto (???!!!) and bring back a bunch of guys that nearly took out last season’s Rose Bowl winners, losing just 20-17 in 2012. State’s covered 11 of last 12 out-of-conference games and sports 18-6 ATS tally the past two seasons…Trees 31 SJSU 17
#6 South Carolina (+3 ½) over #11 GEORGIA: We underestimated the impact of few returning starters on both sides when we proposed our final score prediction for Week One’s Joja-Clemson battle in the Not-Two-Chicks-fil-A Kickoff Classic. Aaron Murray and his UGA support team face a second-straight Top Ten opponent, including all-whatever QB Connor Shaw. Gamehens’ rushing game hasn’t missed a beat after Marcus Lattimore’s departure, with RB Mike Davis posting a buck-fifteen vs. the Tarheels. Poultry gets advantage of a few extra days rest/practice off Thursday-nighter and goes fer 4th outright victory in a row in this series…Nuggets 34 ‘Dawg Pounded 27
Sam Houston State @ #7 TEXAS A&M: No line.
Eastern Kentucky @ #8 LOUISVILLE: No line.
#9 LSU (-34 ½) over Alabama-Birmingham: Bayou Bengals 45 UAB 9
#10 Florida State: IDLE (next vs. Nevada)
MIAMI (+3) over #12 Florida: Unlike last week, Gators anticipate the presence of starting RB Matt Jones. The Pelicans look great on paper with a boatload of returning starters, tons of lettermen and coming off self-imposed two-year bowl ban, and will be eager to show effort vs. the big guys. We are a tad disappointed with non-cover last week vs. Florida Atlantic. QB Jeff Driskel did see action for the Crocs, but it was a staunch running game and defensive play that led to low-scoring win over Toledo…Miami 24 Florida 20
#13 Oklahoma State (-24) over UT-SAN ANTONIO: OKSU 49 UTSA 20
#17 MICHIGAN (-4) over #14 Notre Dame: Irish racked up 500+ yards of offense vs. da’ Owls and scored just 28 points. Big Blue had won three straight in this series until 13-6 loss in South Bend last year. UM just 2-6 SU/1-5-2 ATS vs. Top 25 foes last two seasons. Wolverines ripped Central Michigan with Chippies starting backfield gone early. In the days leading up to what may be a “great and historic rivalry” in his mind…or not…Brian Kelly swiped a line from a semi-family-friendly version of Blurred Lines, calling the Wolverines’ head coach “the hottest Hoke in this place!”…Michigan 31 ND 23
BYU (+6 ½) over #15 Texas: We changed our initial choice here. Never a good sign. Coogs let one get away at Virginia, while Texas lit-up a still-hapless NMSU squad despite scoreless 1st Quarter. Mormons blew a 13-0 halftime edge in 17-16 loss to Texas in 2011. The BYU staff initially abandoned last names on the backs of jerseys in favor of “tradition”, “honor” and “spirit”, Great. Twelve guys on defense all named “honor”. Staff eventually relented and decided to leave the uniforms as is, but not before displeased fans and players came to their own consensus on the three words they’d like to see sewn on the unis…”Sex” “Lies” and “Videotape”, “Truth”, “Justice” and “The American Way”!. Also receiving votes…”Kukla”, “Fran” and “Ollie” and “Me”, “Myself” and “Irene”…Steers 24 BYU 20
#16 OKLAHOMA (-21) over West Virginia: Potent 2012 version of the Mounties squandered a 5-0 start last season to finish 7-6 and lose most of their offensive production. WVU was down 10 before rallying to beat AA William & Mary by a touchdown in the season debut. Sooners tossed first shut-out since early 2010 vs. Weeziana-Monroe despite a rush defense that had been deteriorating until last year. Scoring defense has been a problem last three years for each side. Could be another 50-49 shootout like last season or simply…Boomer Schooner 38 Mountaineers 14
#18 UCLA: IDLE (next @ Nebraska)
Syracuse @ #19 NORTHWESTERN: OFF
#20 Washington: IDLE (next vs. Illinois @ Chicago)
Tennessee Tech @ #21 WISCONSIN: No line.
#22 NEBRASKA (-28) over Southern Miss: With upset loss in punt-fest vs. Texas State, who also beat Houston in its first year of FBS competition, Southern Missed has now been defeated 13 straight times. Big Dread permitted two scores in a 4 1/2 minute span of the 4th Quarter to let Wyoming pull within 3, but hung on to win 37-34. Huskers have UCLA on-deck, but strong NU ground game should grind out the cover…Corn Cobs 41 USM 7
Buffalo (+26 ½) over #23 BAYLOR: Baylor 45 Buffalo 23
SE Louisiana @ #24 TCU: No line.
Washington State (+16) over #25 USC: Wazzou did not adjust well to Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense last year. As expected, rushing yards took a nose-dive, but there was no significant change in passing yards and points-scored fell about 10 per game. This year, however, Coogs gave Auburn a run, losing by just 7 on the road while suffering ongoing turnover problem, three interceptions, including one inside their own 20 and one at the Auburn 8 that killed a potential game-tying TD late in the final quarter. Troy scored just one offensive touchdown in each half and yielded a safety vs. ‘Bows team not known for defense…USC 31 WSU 21
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
BTW, Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan has declared RGIII “ready for Tay cough!” We also think Major League catchers should get to paint different designs on their headgear, which closely resembles those of hockey net-minders!
In other education-related news…The Mexican government recently provided school kids with new textbooks containing at least 117 mistakes (punctuation, grammar, etc.), including a city located in the wrong state. In defense of our friends from south-of-the-border, it took us awhile to find places like DeKalb, Illinois; Durham, North Carolina and Waco, Texas on the map too! It’s also gonna’ be a few weeks until Vindy gets the stickers in the right places in our new NCAA conference-realignment coloring book!
The upsets perpetrated last week by Football Championship Series teams have been well-documented. BTW, all the FCS teams were ranked in the FCS poll last week, except McNeese (who got some votes, but not enough to make the Top 25). Here’s a few non-upset scores involving AA squads we thought note-worthy…Boston College 24-14 over Villanova, Kent State 17-10 over Liberty (Golden Flashes rallied with strong 4th Quarter to win), Eastern Michigan 34-24 over Howard and West Virginia 24-17 over William & Mary. Looking over this week’s inter-subdivision play, we place the following teams on “upset alert”: Colorado (hosting FCS #5 Central Arkansas, though Buffs’ pasting of rival Colorado State gives us pause for this one), Central Michigan (hosting FCS #8 New Hampshire) and Akron (hosting FCS #15 James Madison)!
Earlier this summer, former Texas star and NFL player Ricky Williams was announced as running backs coach at the University of the Incarnate Word, based in San Antonio. The Catholic school Cardinals got their…er… um…ashes …handed to ‘em in 58-7 loss in opener vs. Central Arkansas. Clearly, Ricky and his charges were rollin’ more than Tide! Perhaps an institution in Washington or Colorado woulda’ been more appropriate. In a nod to the 1998 Heisman-winner’s college venue, we say…”Hookah, ‘Horns!”
Back in January, we caught a headline that read, “Ryan Fired”. We quickly envisioned NY Jets Rex Ryan relegated to a street corner sporting a tattoo proclaiming “Will coach for foot…er…um…food!” Turns out, it was his brother Rob Ryan, who got canned as defensive coordinator by the Dallas Cowboys! Our bad!
After being recently dismissed by the Patriots, Tim Tebow has petitioned the NCAA for another year of eligibility and hopes to attend Harvard and spend his time in the role of personal pocket-protector for the Crimson’s punter!
Black Shirt: The first highly-coveted ebony tee of 2013 goes to Hawaii QB Taylor Graham, whose 60-yard TD pass vs. USC with 30 seconds left stole the cover and a forecast win for Vindicator on the season’s opening night!
“Locked in a Box?”: We’re off to a good start at 1-0 (1.000) as Oklahoma State covered nicely in win over Mississippi State.
Shoppe Talk: Last season’s “Grill-Master Supreme” award-winner USC did us a solid vs. Hawaii, but UCLA (now 0-1 on the season and 3-8 over last 11 appearances in the picks) and Florida State (0-1 on the season and 4-9 over last 13 at-bats) picked up where they left off!
Vindy’s Week 2 Best Bets: Last Week: 2-3 Season: 2-3 (.400) Arizona -11 over UNLV, Toledo +16 ½ over MISSOURI, Bowling Green -8 over KENT STATE, Minnesota -15 over New Mew Mexico State, New Mexico +6 ½ over UTEP
WASHINGTON, District of Columbia (Reuters)…”Holy penalty flag, Batman!” Ahead of its 2013 season debut, the No Fashion-Statement League has clamped down on players violating standardized uniform requirements, forbidding the so-called “Bane mask”, which given its modifications, strikes a resemblance to the Batman movie-villain of the same name. The league also invoiced RGIII to the tune of $10,000 for donning an unauthorized T-shirt bearing the words “Operation Patience”…or what SEC cheerleaders would know as “Operashun Patients”… referencing the Redskins’ strategy to keep the quarterback on the pine until the start of live-fire games, during warm-ups prior to the exhibition game vs. the Steelers. Critics say the moves are attempts to turn attention away from bigger issues such as substance abuse and ongoing legal difficulties regarding player concussions. Recommendations include allowing one position, perhaps the quarterback or the field-goal kicker, to wear some sort of uniform variance, a la the NHL’s goalie-masks or a soccer goalie’s jersey showing different colors than his teammates’ garb.
Vindicator, who finished 11-8 (.579) after hitting 10 of Saturday’s 15 games, had planned to return to campus this week, but was also quickly thwarted after school officials claimed he violated the zero-tolerance policy by nibbling his Pop-Tart into the shape of…
THE WEBER KID’S 2013 WEEK 2 FORECAST
(Now with more twerking than a Miley Cyrus appearance!)
SAT. SEPT. 7
#1 Alabama: IDLE (next @ Texas A&M) Coach Saban, and Saban alone apparently, wants a nine-game league schedule. Funny…his detractors would suggest he’s happy with a 6-6-6-game conference slate! Maybe the Tide faithful secretly conduct Sabanic rituals! Nick Saban made me do it! The Saban’s in the details? Nick Saban Wears Prada?
#2 Oregon (-22 ½) over VIRGINIA: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Cavs stole a victory after being out-played by BYU except in return yards and TOP because of late mistakes by the Cougars. Mallards, now led by Mark Helfrich, previously the OC of Drakes’ juggernaut, averaged three-points per minute of possession in 66-3 win over then FCS #8 Nicholls State. Wahoos have been dismal home-dogs and we think Uncle Si takes da’ field for Oregon in the second half…Duck Dynasty 51 Virginia 20
San Diego State (+27 ½) over #3 OHIO STATE: Aztecs, who progressed on both sides of the ball in Rocky Long’s second year as head coach, scored three times in the opening stanza, but contributed to last week’s Mountain Jest debauchery, falling to AA Eastern Illinois 40-19, as the conference collectively-dropped 9 of 12 games outright and went 2-8 ATS. QB Braxton Miller accounted for more than half of Buckeyes 460 yards of total offense vs. Buffalo. We prefer “under” 60, but we’ll call it…OSU 35 SDSU 13
SC State @ #4 CLEMSON: No line.
San Jose State (+26) over #5 STANFORD: Inaugural tilt for the Cardinal, while San Josie at least got to warm-up with live-fire 24-nada game vs. AA Sac(k) State, despite losing all statistical categories except TOP (plus-12 minutes) and points-scored. Led by now-third-year coach Shaw, Trees have posted 19-7-1 spread record and look to be long-shot national crown possibilities. Spartans play third consecutive year at Palo Alto (???!!!) and bring back a bunch of guys that nearly took out last season’s Rose Bowl winners, losing just 20-17 in 2012. State’s covered 11 of last 12 out-of-conference games and sports 18-6 ATS tally the past two seasons…Trees 31 SJSU 17
#6 South Carolina (+3 ½) over #11 GEORGIA: We underestimated the impact of few returning starters on both sides when we proposed our final score prediction for Week One’s Joja-Clemson battle in the Not-Two-Chicks-fil-A Kickoff Classic. Aaron Murray and his UGA support team face a second-straight Top Ten opponent, including all-whatever QB Connor Shaw. Gamehens’ rushing game hasn’t missed a beat after Marcus Lattimore’s departure, with RB Mike Davis posting a buck-fifteen vs. the Tarheels. Poultry gets advantage of a few extra days rest/practice off Thursday-nighter and goes fer 4th outright victory in a row in this series…Nuggets 34 ‘Dawg Pounded 27
Sam Houston State @ #7 TEXAS A&M: No line.
Eastern Kentucky @ #8 LOUISVILLE: No line.
#9 LSU (-34 ½) over Alabama-Birmingham: Bayou Bengals 45 UAB 9
#10 Florida State: IDLE (next vs. Nevada)
MIAMI (+3) over #12 Florida: Unlike last week, Gators anticipate the presence of starting RB Matt Jones. The Pelicans look great on paper with a boatload of returning starters, tons of lettermen and coming off self-imposed two-year bowl ban, and will be eager to show effort vs. the big guys. We are a tad disappointed with non-cover last week vs. Florida Atlantic. QB Jeff Driskel did see action for the Crocs, but it was a staunch running game and defensive play that led to low-scoring win over Toledo…Miami 24 Florida 20
#13 Oklahoma State (-24) over UT-SAN ANTONIO: OKSU 49 UTSA 20
#17 MICHIGAN (-4) over #14 Notre Dame: Irish racked up 500+ yards of offense vs. da’ Owls and scored just 28 points. Big Blue had won three straight in this series until 13-6 loss in South Bend last year. UM just 2-6 SU/1-5-2 ATS vs. Top 25 foes last two seasons. Wolverines ripped Central Michigan with Chippies starting backfield gone early. In the days leading up to what may be a “great and historic rivalry” in his mind…or not…Brian Kelly swiped a line from a semi-family-friendly version of Blurred Lines, calling the Wolverines’ head coach “the hottest Hoke in this place!”…Michigan 31 ND 23
BYU (+6 ½) over #15 Texas: We changed our initial choice here. Never a good sign. Coogs let one get away at Virginia, while Texas lit-up a still-hapless NMSU squad despite scoreless 1st Quarter. Mormons blew a 13-0 halftime edge in 17-16 loss to Texas in 2011. The BYU staff initially abandoned last names on the backs of jerseys in favor of “tradition”, “honor” and “spirit”, Great. Twelve guys on defense all named “honor”. Staff eventually relented and decided to leave the uniforms as is, but not before displeased fans and players came to their own consensus on the three words they’d like to see sewn on the unis…”Sex” “Lies” and “Videotape”, “Truth”, “Justice” and “The American Way”!. Also receiving votes…”Kukla”, “Fran” and “Ollie” and “Me”, “Myself” and “Irene”…Steers 24 BYU 20
#16 OKLAHOMA (-21) over West Virginia: Potent 2012 version of the Mounties squandered a 5-0 start last season to finish 7-6 and lose most of their offensive production. WVU was down 10 before rallying to beat AA William & Mary by a touchdown in the season debut. Sooners tossed first shut-out since early 2010 vs. Weeziana-Monroe despite a rush defense that had been deteriorating until last year. Scoring defense has been a problem last three years for each side. Could be another 50-49 shootout like last season or simply…Boomer Schooner 38 Mountaineers 14
#18 UCLA: IDLE (next @ Nebraska)
Syracuse @ #19 NORTHWESTERN: OFF
#20 Washington: IDLE (next vs. Illinois @ Chicago)
Tennessee Tech @ #21 WISCONSIN: No line.
#22 NEBRASKA (-28) over Southern Miss: With upset loss in punt-fest vs. Texas State, who also beat Houston in its first year of FBS competition, Southern Missed has now been defeated 13 straight times. Big Dread permitted two scores in a 4 1/2 minute span of the 4th Quarter to let Wyoming pull within 3, but hung on to win 37-34. Huskers have UCLA on-deck, but strong NU ground game should grind out the cover…Corn Cobs 41 USM 7
Buffalo (+26 ½) over #23 BAYLOR: Baylor 45 Buffalo 23
SE Louisiana @ #24 TCU: No line.
Washington State (+16) over #25 USC: Wazzou did not adjust well to Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense last year. As expected, rushing yards took a nose-dive, but there was no significant change in passing yards and points-scored fell about 10 per game. This year, however, Coogs gave Auburn a run, losing by just 7 on the road while suffering ongoing turnover problem, three interceptions, including one inside their own 20 and one at the Auburn 8 that killed a potential game-tying TD late in the final quarter. Troy scored just one offensive touchdown in each half and yielded a safety vs. ‘Bows team not known for defense…USC 31 WSU 21
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
BTW, Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan has declared RGIII “ready for Tay cough!” We also think Major League catchers should get to paint different designs on their headgear, which closely resembles those of hockey net-minders!
In other education-related news…The Mexican government recently provided school kids with new textbooks containing at least 117 mistakes (punctuation, grammar, etc.), including a city located in the wrong state. In defense of our friends from south-of-the-border, it took us awhile to find places like DeKalb, Illinois; Durham, North Carolina and Waco, Texas on the map too! It’s also gonna’ be a few weeks until Vindy gets the stickers in the right places in our new NCAA conference-realignment coloring book!
The upsets perpetrated last week by Football Championship Series teams have been well-documented. BTW, all the FCS teams were ranked in the FCS poll last week, except McNeese (who got some votes, but not enough to make the Top 25). Here’s a few non-upset scores involving AA squads we thought note-worthy…Boston College 24-14 over Villanova, Kent State 17-10 over Liberty (Golden Flashes rallied with strong 4th Quarter to win), Eastern Michigan 34-24 over Howard and West Virginia 24-17 over William & Mary. Looking over this week’s inter-subdivision play, we place the following teams on “upset alert”: Colorado (hosting FCS #5 Central Arkansas, though Buffs’ pasting of rival Colorado State gives us pause for this one), Central Michigan (hosting FCS #8 New Hampshire) and Akron (hosting FCS #15 James Madison)!
Earlier this summer, former Texas star and NFL player Ricky Williams was announced as running backs coach at the University of the Incarnate Word, based in San Antonio. The Catholic school Cardinals got their…er… um…ashes …handed to ‘em in 58-7 loss in opener vs. Central Arkansas. Clearly, Ricky and his charges were rollin’ more than Tide! Perhaps an institution in Washington or Colorado woulda’ been more appropriate. In a nod to the 1998 Heisman-winner’s college venue, we say…”Hookah, ‘Horns!”
Back in January, we caught a headline that read, “Ryan Fired”. We quickly envisioned NY Jets Rex Ryan relegated to a street corner sporting a tattoo proclaiming “Will coach for foot…er…um…food!” Turns out, it was his brother Rob Ryan, who got canned as defensive coordinator by the Dallas Cowboys! Our bad!
After being recently dismissed by the Patriots, Tim Tebow has petitioned the NCAA for another year of eligibility and hopes to attend Harvard and spend his time in the role of personal pocket-protector for the Crimson’s punter!
Black Shirt: The first highly-coveted ebony tee of 2013 goes to Hawaii QB Taylor Graham, whose 60-yard TD pass vs. USC with 30 seconds left stole the cover and a forecast win for Vindicator on the season’s opening night!
“Locked in a Box?”: We’re off to a good start at 1-0 (1.000) as Oklahoma State covered nicely in win over Mississippi State.
Shoppe Talk: Last season’s “Grill-Master Supreme” award-winner USC did us a solid vs. Hawaii, but UCLA (now 0-1 on the season and 3-8 over last 11 appearances in the picks) and Florida State (0-1 on the season and 4-9 over last 13 at-bats) picked up where they left off!
Vindy’s Week 2 Best Bets: Last Week: 2-3 Season: 2-3 (.400) Arizona -11 over UNLV, Toledo +16 ½ over MISSOURI, Bowling Green -8 over KENT STATE, Minnesota -15 over New Mew Mexico State, New Mexico +6 ½ over UTEP
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