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Husker Hoops
Being a Cubs fan I’m very familiar with the old refrain “Just wait ‘til next year.” This has worked out well for me as someone who has rooted openly for the Nebraska mens’ basketball team since I was 8. It was always a source of pride. Yeah, they suck or they can’t win the big one, or whatever, but dammit, they’re mine. That’s why I’m more than a little excited about the turning of the leaves this year. Nevermind the football team’s race to be bowl eligible, the BB season tips off on Monday with an exhibition matchup against the UNO Mavs.
The Twilight of the Killer B’s
The World Series came and went this week and I barely noticed. I caught parts of three of the games and stayed up way too late watching the end of the 15 inning classic on Tuesday night but I didn’t really much interest. The Cubs weren’t there so I didn’t have a team to root for and the Yankees weren’t there so I didn’t have a team to root against. The two teams that seemed least likely to get there when the playoffs started defied expectations and fought there way to the series. The White Sox did it in impressive fashion, losing only one game along the way and then sweeping the Astros in four games to take the first World Series title back to Chicago since they did it in 1917.
This Time I Mean It
A couple of big road eggs laid by UConn and South Florida and a pathetic home performance by Missouri (let’s hope for another one) put us at 2-3 last week and 14-16 against the spread for the season. I think I’ve gotten the situation corrected with two new rules. First, stay away from the Big 10. Whether it’s parity or group mediocrity, there’s no way of telling who’s going to win any of those games on a given weekend. Second, upstart teams, no matter how good, are not safe road bets.
With that out of the way here we go on our way back to winning and burning bookies.
High School Report
I just got back from Lewiston a little while ago and am sad to report the Tigers lost to the Griffins 42-26. It was a close game most of the way but the Tigers lack of depth caught up with them in the second half. Their starting right corner was out most of the 3rd quarter with cramping and the Griffins ran right at his replacement, a freshman. Also, the Tigers had the ball inside the Griffins’ 10 yard line three times in the game and failed to score. There’s a good chance these teams will meet again in the playoffs in a couple of weeks.
We Will Get Even
Yes, last weekend was not good for us. Joe Glenn’s Wyoming Cowboys went down in flames at home, Penn State is looking better and better and knocked off Ohio State, Michigan showed just how overrated they were at the beginning of the season in losing at home to Minnesota, Iowa State’s reason for existence was apparently beating Nebraska and now they’re cashing it in for the season after the loss here in Lincoln, and Texas finally got over their OU hex in a big way. That’s right, we went 0-5 last weekend, now 12-13 on the season. Time to get back at those bookies.
Mighty Tigers
Ryly Jane wrote a good article today about the fighting Lewiston Tigers and how they’re 5-1 with only 16 boys on the roster (what the article doesn’t mention is that 3 of those 16 are foreign exchange students). It’s odd that there are so few since Lewiston won a state championship in 2001. That usually creates a bandwagon effect.
NFL Roundup
If you think everything but the primacy of USC makes college football a confusing mess, take a look at the NFL. Both the NCAA and the NFL made moves with the aim of increasing parity over the last decade. The NCAA has the 85 scholarship limit, the NFL has the salary cap. The effect has been more pronounced in the NFL because while there is always a limit on the money a player can make (with a lot of funky loopholes for more, of course) high school kids are still going to be attracted to certain places.
The Wyoming Money Train
We went 3-2 last week keeping up with our 67% winning clip. That’s cashmoney in the bank where I’m from. The last couple of weeks have been tough. Conference play is underway and it’s difficult to judge where the value is yet. This week is no different. Here are the best five we could find on the board.
Did I say “Tough Weekend?”
Last week was tough and I proved it by going 2-3. Ohio was killing Kent for most of the game but only won by 3, Clemson laid a big egg, losing at home to BC in overtime and NC State was embarrassing. The brains-behind-bobby-bowden genius luster is definitely gone from Chuck Amato in my book. On a better note, Wyoming, coached by Lincolnite Joe Glenn, won at Ole Miss by 10. Watch for Wyoming to win the Mountain West this year.
We’re still 9-6 for the season and players should be able to find some better value in this weeks numbers.
Yes, There’s still baseball
There are still a few playoff spots to fill this last weekend of the regular season although many spots have been sewn up. The Braves won their 14th straight division title but they have only one World Series title to show for it. The White Sox stopped their freefall and clinced the AL Central today and it’s a good thing for them they did. If they would have lost this afternoon that would have put them 2 1/2 games up on the Indians going into a 3 game series in Cleveland. Now Cleveland is in a three team race for the wild card. The lowly San Diego Padres stumbled to a 79-79 record with 4 games to play to win the NL West. So while the .500 Padres are headed to the post-season there are 10 teams with better records than them that won’t. By way of comparison, the last place team in the East, the Florida Marlins, are 80-78. Oh, and the Los Angeles Angels of Tustin, or whatever they’re calling themselves this week, won the AL West.
Of course, the finish everyone will be following in between college and pro football games, NASCAR, and maybe even that big MLS matchup between New England and San Jose (well, baseball isn’t that unpopular, yet) is the three team race between the Yankees, Red Sox and Indians for the final two playoff spots.
A tough weekend for players
We’re now 7-3 over two weeks and if you’ve been following my advice, you’re burying your bookie and accumulating gas money.
The Billbot Model XQJ-37 Nuclear Powered Pansexual Rotoplooker
Listening to Bill Callahan’s segment of the Big XII coaches’ conference call today, his attempts to spin everything into a positive, his deflecting of any criticism or suggestions of criticism, make me think of another expert of that dark art, Scott McClellan.
Welcome Back, Players
Last week we went 4-1 against the spread in major college football games and were it not for an alligator-armed Ohio State tight end or an alligator-legged Ohio State kicker we’d be 5-0. Smart players don’t look back on what could have been though. Smart players focus on next week, devising new ways to bury their bookies. Here are 5 ways to help you do just that.
Weekend Preview #1
It’s going to be a beautiful weekend to get outside and watch other people run. Here are some of the best events for doing just that.
Smart Players Wait a Week
Last season I was 23-15-1 in picking college football games against the spread. Unlike many betting services which play both sides in different publications I only give you the best winners, the winners that will allow you to burn your bookie, pay off your house and still have a million to donate to charity. With parity coming to college football, it’s smart to wait a week until you make your picks. You only lose when you’re quick to fire on the first real football you can. My initial picks for this season follow below.
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