The Post with Week 4 NFL picks
So last week I somehow found a way to only go 9-7. this despite being 7-1 in my first half of the picks. That means it went downhill in the second half. A lot like the Washington Redskins did last week against the Giants. Joe Gibbs should be embarassed with the way his team conducted the two minute drill last week in the 4th quarter.

That bad finish after a great start leaves me 27-21, a somewhat ok 6 games over .500. I think the problem is I've overthought things in a few games. So in celebration of the new TV season we start with the new theme of picking smart ratehr than with my heart. Always go with your first feeling.

Sunday, Sept. 30

Houston at Atlanta, 1 p.m.- Houston has to be an early candidate for surprise of the year. Matt Schaub had started less games than dead dog bodies they found in Michael Vick's backyard so he was an unknown quantity. Houston was mocked in some circles for giving up as much as they did to get him but he came in led them to two wins, and had Indy's backs to the wall in Sunday's game. Now he heads back to Atlanta to try and prove they should've stuck with him. Atlanta decided not to and have ended up with perennial underacheiver Joey Harrington and are hoping Byron Leftwich can recover from going from Jaguar starting quarterback to cut in the span of a summer. Houston will be without Andre Johnson and most likely without Ahman Green. However Ron Dayne can fill Green's shoes and Schaub is showing he can elevate guys. I think this is close but in the end the Houston Texans go win.

N.Y. Jets at Buffalo, 1 p.m.- Buffalo has had as bad a start as any team ever. Starters on defense keep getting hurt (Paul Pozluzny going down last week with a broken arm) and the one game they should've won they gave away. Now J.P. Losman is hurt and they will turn to rookie Trent Edwards. And the running back he has to help take the load off him is rookie Marshawn Lynch- that's a bad recipe. The Jets though aren't a team that can be penciled as a guarantee though. They give up a lot of yards on the ground and Chad Pennington is far from a sure thing at quarterback. I think this is a prime UPSET SPECIAL (TM Adam Schein) game so I'm picking the Bills.

Baltimore at Cleveland, 1 p.m.- Defense, which is usually Baltimore's strongpoint has not really shown up yet this year. Last week Kurt Warner torched them in the 4th quarter and almost won the game. And offensively handing the keys to Kyle Boller is like telling your kid who just wrecked your Lexus to take the Corvette instead. Cleveland plays Baltimore tough and this is a home game for them where they lit up the Bengals a few weeks ago. I think Derek Anderson makes one too many mistakes and costs his team though- Baltimore wins.

St. Louis at Dallas, 1 p.m.- Torry Holt guaranteed the Rams will win this game, which is daring someone with a gun to shoot you. The Cowboys offense has been on fire as of late. Last week their defense all of a sudden turn into a ball-hawking machine which doesn't bode well for the Rams and Marc Bulger who is soft-tossing passes into the secondary. Some are saying this is a trap game. I say only if you are betting the Cowboys score less than 30 points. Cowboys win.

Chicago at Detroit, 1 p.m.- It's no secret the Lions love to throw the football. I'm fairly certain if they weren't paying a lot of money to their running backs they would drop back and pass every down. Rex Grossman loves to throw the football as well- unfortunately to the other team- and has been benched in favor of Brian Griese who lost his starting job a few years ago to the consistently inconsistent Jake Plummer. Add that to the fact that the Bears starting secondary is mostly going to be on the sidelines this weekend and the air show wins. Lions take this one.

Oakland at Miami, 1 p.m.- Joey Porter has also guaranteed the Dolphins will win this weekend. He has a better chance of being right. Oakland's defense has been terrible to start this year, and Daunte Culpepper will get a start this week at quarterback against the team that didn't want him anymore. The Daunte of 2001 maybe could make them pay for that but not this version. Miami wins despite the fact that they suck badly.

Green Bay at Minnesota, 1 p.m.- The Vikings must be allergic to offensive play because despite the fact that you need to score points to win in the NFL they can't seem to find the endzone. Green Bay has just been great to start the year. Brett Favre is doing what everyone said he couldn't do- controlling throws and just managing the game. This looks like an easy win but he is 5-10 career wise in the Metrodome. The Vikings might keep it close but I think in the end their inability to score does them in. Packers win

Tampa Bay at Carolina, 4:05 p.m.- Carolina this week turns to David Carr who is two steps away from being labeled a complete bust. He will try to resurrect his career filling in for Jake Delhomme against a bad Tampa Bay secondary. The Bucs have gotten steady play from Jeff Garcia but have been shaky at times otherwise. Steve Smith torches the secondary of the Bucs everytime they playand Carr takes a step back toward respectability. Carolina wins.

Seattle at San Francisco, 4:05 p.m.- Alex Smith is killing Frank Gore's running stats. Gore is a great runner but becasue Alex Smith is unable to get going passing wise defenses are playing 8 and 9 guys in teh box cutting down running lanes. Seattle is clearly the better team here but they play awful on the road. I still think in the end though they pull this one out. Seattle wins.

Pittsburgh at Arizona, 4:15 p.m.- The Steelers have been dominant through the first three weeks but this is their first real test of the season. Their cornerbacks are untested and Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald pose a real challenge. If you see any kind of downfield passing game then Steelers fans should be worried. Also I think even though the philosophies have changed Ken Wisenhunt knows what he can do to attack his former charges weaknesses. I think thsi game will be closer than it looks on paper and is another UPSET SPECIAL. Cardinals win.

Denver at Indianapolis, 4:15 p.m.- Peyton Manning outright owns the Denver Broncos. For a few years in a row the Broncos had to travel to Indy in the playoffs and got blown out of the water more than once. In fact, int heir last two trips they have been outscored 90-34. That is an 8 touchdown difference. Jay Cutler is going to be a good quarterback but playing on a gimpy ankle which the extremely fast Colt defense chasing him is a recipe for disaster. Colts win.

Kansas City at San Diego, 4:15 p.m.- The Cheifs have been horrendous offensively scoring a combined 26 points in 3 games which is a whopping 8.67 points a game. You could have an all pro bowl defense and that still won't get the job done. The Chargers have been bad too- in relation to how good they can be. Their defense has been worse- getting torched twice now for 30+ points. LT has had the worst 3 game stretch of hsi career and looks like a rookie. I think this is the week they need to get healthy and will get healthy. Chargers win.

Philadelphia at N.Y. Giants 8:15 p.m. - Both teams have not played much defense this year. Brian Westbrook who makes up 44% of the Eagles offense might be out which doesn't bode well for the Birds. The Giants look like a team that is lost and somehow stumbled their way into a win last week by playing 30 minutes of a 60 minute game. I think if this turns into a shootout it favors the Giants more, so the Eagles will grind it out. Eagles win.

Monday, Oct. 1

New England at Cincinnati, 8:30 p.m.- The Bengals offense has been great. They score an average of 31 points a game. Sadly the defense gives up 32 points a game. The Patriots have scored 38 in every game so far this year and considering the Bengals average that seems like a good number to hit this week. I think the Bengals will be forced to throw all day and even knwoing that they are still hard to stop. They will score points but not enough to beat Tom Brady and his boys. Patriots win.
- posted by Brian @ 9/28/2007 01:47:00 PM

 
The Post with the News You Can't Use
Dateline- Homestead, Miami

http://cbs4.com/local/local_story_269223627.html

- How do people not notice a bright green backhoe uprooting an ATM? Especially when there has been a rash of robberies like this. Homestead must have the dumbest group of cops and civilans in the world. Or the drugs are really good that time of night.


Dateline- Miamisburg, Ohio

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/09/25/ddn092607porninside.html?pwnd

- The wonders of technology. Word is that after she asked him about XBox Live the kid said he would rather show her his Wii Wii.....Get it....

Dateline- Des Moines, Iowa

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070927/NEWS01/709270397/1001/NEWS

- Crime really isn't for amateurs. How can you not at least plan a break-in a little better than that?

Dateline- Marlborough, New Hampshire

http://www.wmur.com/news/14212889/detail.html?rss=man&psp=news

- I don't even know where to begin with this story. Hypnotize you to take your money? Must not get a whole lot of business if he is allowing people to tell his future. I could see if a hot chick came in with the guy and she banged you while they took your money or something but hypnotizing? Stupid.

Dateline- Windsor, Ontario

http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/story.html?id=af6dca12-5124-446f-bd61-0deb8305ff30

- Nothign I say can properly convey the stupidity involved in this.


Good night
- posted by Brian @ 9/27/2007 01:15:00 PM

 
The Post with me Ranting About ESPN's Town Hall Meeting
Last night ESPN decided to forego their usual Sportscenter programming at 6 pm to offer up a 90 minute townhall meeting about Michael Vick in lieu of his new charges being filed in Virignia. I caught the final 45 minutes last night at the gym and then taped it overnight to catch the beginning half.



It was the most infuriating 90 minutes of tv I've ever witnessed. They must have searched for the stupidest people in Georgia to put in that audience becasue they were just outright embarassing- to themselves, their town, and the human race in general. The panel was hit or miss but some of them tried to hard to reach to make their points which devalued them from the start. In theory it was a great idea to bring together journalists, some former teammates, and radio hosts to discuss this. The crowd though and some of the more insipid arguments drug this way down though.



Here are the highlights:



- Terrence Moore, a former teammate of Michael Vick (and a black man for what that's worth) made a comment that Michael Vick is a grown man and needs to be held accountable for his actions. The crowd booed him for this. So now we live in a society where a 29 year old human being is allowed to act like a shithead and is not accountable for this. Who is exactly accountable for it in this instance. Selena Roberts of the New York Times said the Falcons are culpable in all this because they didn't take Vick aside early enough to outline. That's fine- a lot of NFL teams looked the other way for a long time in relation to problem players until new commissioner Roger Goodell made them handle things in-house. That only works to a point though. How many of you need to be pulled aside by a parent, or guardian and be told "Dog fighting and gambling on it is bad?" I'm guessing that's something we know for a while, and wouldn't need to have driven home to us.



- John Goodwin tried to defend why his organization Humane Society of the United States) is trying to keep this out there, and he got booed. R.L. WHite the head of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP said the story is overkill and Vick has gotten every piece of bad press possible. It probbaly is overkill but that's the way it goes when stories like this pop. Dogfighting has always been an underground type of thing and now that it is thrust into the forefront it is an opportunity to spotlight stopping it. Goodwin said about the methods they used to kill dogs and said "talk about overkill," which got another round of boos.



- Gerald Rose who runs the Atlanta based New Order National Human Rights Organization and has held rallies in support of Michael VIck said he is gettign beaten up becasue he is black. When white athletes and balck athletes run afoul of the law it is always the black athlete who gets it worse. In most cases there is probably an argument there. But Terrence Moore again raised the point by saying, "He confessed." Many called it a witchhunt. It was absolutely not a witchhunt. The cops didn't single out MIchael Vick. They were at his house on an entirely different matter and discovered evidence of dog kennels and dog fighting. They went back and got a warrant and found dead bodies, and rape stands. Then as Moore said, Vick confessed. They didn't go after Vick- Vick's guilt fell into their laps and Michael owned up to it. Don't give this bullshit that he was a marked man.



- There was talk of whether or not Michael Vick will get a second chance. He should get a second chance. That's what America and life is all about. Will he get a fair second chance maybe, maybe not. I don't think people will ever forget what he did, but eventually they will be able to move past it. It was him that tarnished his own legacy though.



- Then R.L. White stood up again and said that when most of these actions were going on dogfighting was a misdemeanor in Virginia and not a felony so Vick should be punished by the prior standard. That would absolutely be the case if it were true. Dogfighting has been a felony in Virginia for decades. I can't believe that a person trying to intelligently state his case and defense of Vick would so badly get his facts wrong.



- The topic came up to about how Bill Belichick was given such a light sentence in regards to cheating via videotape in the NFL versus the one-year suspension Vick got. It's very simple. Videotaping signals and cheating ruins the integriy of the sport. An integrity that is self-contained within the boundaries of that institutional element. Dogfighting is a felony- it's a crime, one that you can go to jail for. It isn't a black versus white thing. Yes Belichick probably got off lightly with his suspension but there was no precedent to that case. Whatever Goodell did was going to be judged as too light or too harsh becasue there was nothing to measure it against. There is a precedent in dogfighting cases. Not only is it a felony in 48 states to support them- it is a felony to attend them in many states. Just showing up can buy you significant jail time.



More than that though this punishment was really outside the NFL's jurisdiction. The federal government was going to set the tone. All Goodell was doing was helping his league out. If Vick had received say- 500 hours of community service he would've only been suspended for probably 6-8 games. A legal case that will be drawn out until at least December would affect one of the organizations within the larger NFL infastructure.



Even more than that though as well, when all this started Michael Vick was called into a meeting with Roger Goodell and told the commissioner he had nothign to do with any of this. Something evidence and testimony has proven otherwise. So he outright lied to his boss. How would that affect you at your job?



- In a blog entry someone wrote about the town hall meeting today they mentioned how ESPN to fully reveal the two-faced nature of the response needs to recognize and research how dogfighting is an accepted practice worldwide. That's all well and good but we don't live in Japan, or India, or Russia. The United States government decided, early in teh 20th century this was not going to be tolerated and started writing laws against it. So for roughly 100 years it has been against the law in the United States.



Also, in India they revere cows and would never think about eating them or killing them. By the same logic these bloggers employ- we can go kill a cow in the middle of India and then when they get ready to hold us accountable say- "Well it's legal in our country and around the world." The US law, much like Russian law, English law, Chinese law, Japanese law, etc is governed by a set of rules that have been agreed upon and passed down from generation to generation. 100 years means dogfighting has been illegal for 2-4 generations of people. And being in the United States means you are governed by that law. Sorry the argument doesn't hold water.



- The end of the town hall meeting brought about the stupidest part of the whole night. See the crowd was mostly wearing Michael Vick jerseys and cheering every little defense of "their quarterback." At the end Bob Ley- prompted by the NAACP clown- asked the question, "By show of applause, how many of you think dogfighting should NOT be against the law?" Roughly 65% of the crowd applauded. Is loyalty to a guy- who is an average quarterback at best- that blind that people feel not only is he being persecuted becasue of his color but viciously killing dogs is no big deal? Not even just dogs, animals in general don't deserve to die the way those dogs did. And for a bunch of jackasses to sit there and say by clapping, "Killing dogs ain't no big deal," is completely embarassing and every single one of them should be ashamed of themselves. In fact, the city of Atlanta should be embarassed that the worst element of their town found its way into that meeting. Neal Boortz said it best when he said, "The people who are applauding are not doing Vick any favors." That is true.



By clapping those people are giving Vick the belief that he doesn't need to be held accountable for his actions. He doesn't need to feel remorse.



There is a lesson in all of this, and it has nothing to do with the color of Vick's skin. What he did was not going to be any better if he was white. Unfortunately that's what people want this to dissolve into. And then they wonder why race relations are still so backwards in pockets of the United States
- posted by Brian @ 9/26/2007 01:58:00 PM

 
The Post with my Weekend
Friday I took off and hit the road to Elysburg so I could spend the weekend at Knoebels. It was a really fun time.

When we got there I spent most of Friday drinking before shutting it down around 10:30 so I wouldn't get sick.

Saturday we went to the park for most of the day and that was a lot of fun. We hit the roller coasters a few times, the log flume which pissed my wallet off (it got really wet), ate specialty pizza slices, and had my weiner tickled on the pirate ship (it's a long story- funny though).

After that we headed back to the campground and drank some more. I took it easy Saturday night because I had a headache from not drinking enough water on Saturday and being outside all day. I still drank and everything but not as much as I did on Friday.

Sunday I got up and came home so I could set up my fantasy football teams and watch that all day.

Weekend was great. My air mattress is more comfortable than I thought it would be, and it was good to be on my own essentially.

Now I'm back here at work and seeing as we were officially sold on Thursday the waiting game is on now to see where my job status is in a few weeks and months.

I've consumed myself with playing the game bloon tower defense on addictinggames.com. Spent a lot of Thursday night and Sunday playing that as well.

That's all- I got not much to say today. Can't wait for epiosde 2 of prison break tonight
- posted by Brian @ 9/24/2007 02:13:00 PM

 
The Post with this week's NFL picks
So after I found a way to go only 7-9 I lick my wounds with an 18-14 record and move onto week 3 in the NFL

Sunday, Sept. 23

Arizona at Baltimore, 1 p.m.- Arizona is an up and coming team but they will need to be more than that to get past the Baltimore Raven defense. Ravens win

San Diego at Green Bay, 1 p.m.- The Chargers need to lick their wounds after being humbled on national TV. They will get healthy against the upstart Green Bay Packers. Chargers win

Indianapolis at Houston, 1 p.m.- Love what the Texans are doing down in Houston but Peyton Manning will still be too much for them defensively. Colts win.

Minnesota at Kansas City, 1 p.m.- The Minnesota defense has been outstanding this year and the Cheifs offense has been very bad. However in Kansas City the Chiefs are tough to beat. This is my upset as the Chiefs win.

Buffalo at New England, 1 p.m.- The Bills are snakebitten and the Patriots are just way to good for them this week. Patriots win.

Miami at N.Y. Jets, 1 p.m.- The Jets should've beaten the Ravens. The Dolphins stumbled in the secondary against the Cowboys. I like the returning Chad Pennington and the Jets in this one.

Detroit at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.- The Eagles have played terribly offensively and McNabb is causing waves. The Lions are very much like the Eagles in that they make themselves one-dimension. I like the Eagles in a shootout.

San Francisco at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.- Maybe the game of the week. The 49'ers rely on Frank Gore and that running game but the Steelers are very good defending that. Alex Smith isn't good enough- yet- to beat them through the air. Steelers win.

St. Louis at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.- Tampa Bay is surprising some people in their ability to control games defensively and do enough on offense to win. The Rams are stumbling but Stephen Jackson will get going i this one and lead the Rams to victory.

Jacksonville at Denver, 4:05 p.m.- Jacksonville's offense is in a state of flux which is a bad thing to have going against Denver. Denver has been far from spectacular but Jay Culter is a better quarterback than David Garrard so the Broncos win.

Cleveland at Oakland, 4:05 p.m.- The Browns are riding high off upsettign the Bengals. The Raiders should've beaten teh Broncos. They will exact revenge against the Browns. Oakland wins.

Cincinnati at Seattle, 4:05 p.m.- Cincinnati's strength is the passing game. Seattle's weakness is the pass defense. See what happens here. Cincinnati wins.

Carolina at Atlanta, 4:15 p.m.- The Falcons signed Byron Leftwich this week but he won't help them yet. Carolina wins.

N.Y. Giants at Washington, 4:15 p.m.- The Giants are just a horrible awful team. Washington wins

Dallas at Chicago, 8:15 p.m. - Chicago's offense isn't great but they are tough to beat at home. The defense will slow down teh Cowboys offense enough to win. Bears win this one.

Monday, Sept. 24

Tennessee at New Orleans, 8:30 p.m.- Battle of first round picks goes to the Saints who play well in big games. New Orleans wins.
- posted by Brian @ 9/20/2007 01:16:00 PM

 
The Post with the News you can't use
Dateline- Jena, Louisana

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/09/report-jesse-ja.html

- First off the story based around Jackson's claim is a bad one rife with back dealing and everything. Saying he isn't black enough though is completely stupid. I guess Mr. Jackson is saying we aren't allowed to have a black presidential candidate unless he is eating fried chicken and singing "Ol' Man River" during stump speeches. Please- a person is either black or they aren't.

Dateline- New York City (video clip)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fLnCDTWB2S0

- Why does anyone watch this show first and foremost? Secondly- Sherri Sheppard doesn't know if the world is flat or round? Is she stupid? Then she uses the excuse that she is a good little housewife and needs to worry about feeding her children which apparently absolves you from knowing third grade history. Was she being a good little housewife when she was 9 and went over that in school? Her kids better never need her help for homework.

Dateline- Evansville, Pennsylvania

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/14147879/detail.html

- Who doesn't love Santa Claus? This lady apparently. Why wouldn't you do what a normal person would do and break into her house. Sliding down the chimney isn't very smart.

Dateline- MOscow, Idaho

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8RO6BPO0&show_article=1?ic

- Maybe the motion of the ocean is more important. I wonder when exactly the car tipped. Was it when the guy shot his load becasue there was too much weight to one side of the truck? At least the guy can say he wrecked a truck while having sex. That's got to gain you some street cred.

Dateline- Oregon

http://www.local6.com/problemsolvers/14139408/detail.html

- Are people really this dumb? It's ok to show off you possessions ot friends but stick a snake down your throat?- that's completely idiotic/

Dateline- unknown

http://www.wigantoday.net/wigan-news/Darth-Vader-arrested-for-assault.3208968.jp

- Darth Vader apparently has given up life in space and has settled down and lives in a flat. Kind of sad- also sad that the guy would think that was his best defense
- posted by Brian @ 9/19/2007 02:17:00 PM

 
The Post with me talking about some things
Last week was a really good week. This week has been kind of blah so far. not bad or anything- just there. It will get better at the end of the week when i go to Knoebels but until then it is just build-up. That means I will move up the news stories and football picks by a day this week.

Couple quick hit thoughts:

- I really wish I was in a stable enouhg position to buy a house. The market is so good right now to buy a house, although some experts say it will sink even lower. I probably could afford a house and swing the payments if I found something in the right price range. With my college loan, and car payments and the uncertainity in my work future I want to wait though so I don't get locked into something that 5 months from now I'll need to be out of.

- I got to finally watch the Molly Shannon hosted Saturday Night Live this weekend. Man I miss her on that show. She brought back her main characters and it was just really good. The Sopranos skit was really funny. Actually MadTV was pretty good Saturday night too but mainly becasue they were showing old skits back when the show was still funny (Or it could be becasue I was 15 and remember those more fondly- either one)

- Exactly what I thought would happen to the Chargers this past weekend happened. No sweat though yet.

- Went 2-0 in my fantasy football money league but lost money elsewhere over the weekend.

- Almost all caught up on Big Love...Season finale to go yet.

- Also the Emmy Awards happened and my picks were not so good- 4 for 11 I guess is ok in some circles but I would've been 6 of 11 had I gone with my initial thought in the best actress in a drama and best supporting actor in a comedy series. Oh well.


That's it for now.
- posted by Brian @ 9/18/2007 02:40:00 PM

 
The Post with my NFL Week 2 picks
See I told you I knew something about football. Last week's 11-5 start to the season was a fairly decent one. The games I got wrong were for the most part games a lot of people got wrong. Jacksonville and Philadelphia were the big culprits. In the USA TOday survival pool those two teams knocked out 114 entries alone. Also falling last week were the St. Louis Rams, Atlanta Falcons (which was admittedly a reach), and the Arizona Cardinals (who blew the MOnday night game really late). So fair enough- still a good start. A normal person would quit while they're ahead but I'm not that guy. Let's get to this weeks picks.

Sunday, Sept. 16

Houston at Carolina, 1 p.m.- Houston is capable of scoring points against Carolina but that Panther front 7 looked dominant last week against Stephen Jackson who is a better running back than Ahman Green. Matt Schaub showed what made him such a hot commodity in Atlanta by displaying his calm demeanor and making good decisions against Kansas City. This week though the Panthers have a better defense and will force him to make a mistake that will be costly. Panthers win.

Cincinnati at Cleveland, 1 p.m.- Cleveland couldn't stop Pittsburgh and the Bengal offense is far superior. Gotta go Bengals.

Atlanta at Jacksonville, 1 p.m. - Jacksonville got surprised last week by Tennessee. Atlanta surprised no one by barely showing up for the game. This week will be no different as Jacksonville runs all over Atlanta for the win.

Green Bay at N.Y. Giants, 1 p.m. - Maybe I should've taken the pre-season trendy pick the Packers as my NFC sleeper. That defense looked really good against the Eagles. The offense was non-exsistant but special teams wise they made up for it. The Giants might have an injured Eli Manning at qb, and that almost certainly guarantees a Packer victory.

Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m. - This is a potential trap game. The Bills had that scary incident in last week's game where they thought one of their own was paralyzed. He has gotten better through the week so the Bills will be riding a wave of emotion. They are also still bitter over blowing last week's game against the Broncos. However the Steelers looked very good and are tough to beat at home. I'll pick Pittsburgh but it wouldn't surprise me if it went the other way.

San Francisco at St. Louis, 1 p.m. - St. Louis offense looked anemic last week agains teh Panthers. They also lost tackle Orlando Pace which will affect the running and passing game. The 49'ers though have relatively weak safeties in coverage and can be beat deep. The Rams are the perfect type of team to exploit that. Rams win.

New Orleans at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m. - Someone has to pay for the Saints awful showing agains the Colts. That team is Tampa Bay. I can see this being a behind the woodshed beating. Saints win.

Indianapolis at Tennessee, 1 p.m. - The Colts looked unstoppable week 1. The Titans squeaked by the Jaguars. Tennessee plays Indy extremely well. They beat them once last year, and should've beaten them in the other game. Indy has problems defensively becasue their defense is built on speed rushing and Vince Young gets a lot of room to run becasue of it. Tennessee's defense could really use Pacman Jones in this game. Even still this is my upset special Tennessee wins.

Seattle at Arizona, 4:05 p.m. - Arizona plays Seattle tough but I think Arizona is still a game or two away from hitting stride which lets Seattle outslug them in this one. Seattle wins

Minnesota at Detroit, 4:05 p.m. - Detroit will want to amp up the offense and Minnesota will do everything they can to stop it. Jon Kitna will turn the ball over but I don't think the Vikings have enough firepower to score points off them turnovers. It will be close but Detroit wins.

Dallas at Miami, 4:05 p.m. - I love the Dallas offense but I think their defense- especially in the secondary is suspect. The offense will need to continuously put up 30-40 points a game to win this year. I don't think they can do that against the Miami defense. Miami wins this one.

N.Y. Jets at Baltimore, 4:15 p.m. - The Jets barely had a shot with Chad Pennington playing. They have no shot with Kellen Clemens at qb. Baltimore wins easily.

Kansas City at Chicago, 4:15 p.m. - Someone has to pay for the Bears bad showing last week and that team is the Chiefs. Bears win.

Oakland at Denver, 4:15 p.m. - Want to know a crazy stat? The Broncos have not lost a home opener since 1999. 8 years ago. This will be no different- starting Culpepper will give them a chance but not much of one. Denver wins.

San Diego at New England, 8:15 p.m. - A real toss-up game. The Pats will have some residual thoughts of the cheating scandal plaguing them this week. The Chargers are out for blood after the Pats beat them in San Diego and then danced on their logo. Some week I promise I'll pick against the Chargers but not this week. San Diego wins.

Monday, Sept. 17

Washington at Philadelphia, 8:30 p.m. - Washington is very good in the secondary so Philadelphia will absolutely need to rely on the running game in this one. That is not their strong point. Jason Campbell will be a great quarterback but he is still young and prone to mistakes. The blitzing Eagles defense could cause one of them. Philadelphia wins.


Anything better than 5-11 still has me over .500 on the year
- posted by Brian @ 9/14/2007 01:34:00 PM

 
The Post with the News you Can't Use
Dateline- Green Bay, Wisconsin

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070913/GPG0101/309130044/1207/GPGnews

- So it's ok to molest a kid as long as the area is not secluded? Seriously- how backwards is that? The worst part is the guy is a convicted sexual offender that did it again and he is getting a free pass. I mean- let the legal system work and all but it is failing big time in this instance.

Dateline- Lansing, Michigan

http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070913/NEWS01/709130355

- I'm pretty sure if I were booby-trapping my house I would know were I had placed the pipe bombs. In fact, that would probably be the first thing I would do. Draw up one of those maps with notes all over it about where they are so I didn't trip one of them. Or you could just buy an alarm- that works too. My co-worker Jess suggested they build a moat. That's old school too but relatively harmless

Dateline- London, England

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070913/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_climate_meat

- You know what else is bad for your health- not eating protein. Also bad for your health- telling me I'm not allowed to eat steak. Did cows just become bad for the environemnt, or back in the 50's and 60's were people saying- them cows are cool man but they'll kill us all someday? I know this study was funded by PETA- bastards.

Dateline- Phnom Pinh, Cambodia

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070912/ap_on_fe_st/odd_cambodia_strange_love;_ylt=AsNgWd5gMNBn99Wvhw5WDk8uQE4F

- Um......Fuck the heck? And people say we're bad as Americans? If the girl doesn't want you do what every other guy does. Feel sad and drink for a few days. Then begin stalking her, get angry, drink more, then move on. PLus if you really wanted to be a part of her you should've injected her with semen. Although tracking down a guy running around with a turkey baster would've been fairly easy I suppose.

Dateline- York, PA

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20070912_ap_pajudgerulesweddingbyinternetordainedministerinvalid.html

- It's not the alarmingly high divorce rate. Or the green card marriages. Or people faking marriage for health benefits that has ruined the sanctity of marriage. It's internet ordained ministers? I guess at least they didn't blame it on gay people like everyone else does.

Dateline- Columbus, Ohio

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-09-12-defendant-tasered_N.htm?csp=34

- That story just kept getting better. Pretty sure threatening the judge to give you time is not a smart move.


Til next week
- posted by Brian @ 9/13/2007 02:21:00 PM

 
The Post with my Emmy Picks
So I like to watch a little bit of TV when I have time and this Sunday is the Emmy Awards telecast on Fox. I like usual will only see what is on during commericals as I'll be watching football (especially considering my Chargers play the cheating Patriots this Sunday night).

That doesn't stop me from making picks though as I try the same thign as I do every year. Pick more correct than incorrect. I usually fail miserably.

Reality-Competition Series:

The Amazing Race
American Idol
Dancing with the Stars
Project Runway
Top Chef

I would think on some level this is probably the American Idol category to lose but the Emmy voters don't really like giving it to them. The Amazing Race was really good this past year so I'm giving that the nod over everything else.

Supporting Actress- Comedy Series:

Conchata Ferrell- Two and a Half Men
Jenna Fischer- The Office
Elizabeth Perkins- Weeds
Jamie Pressly- My Name is Earl
Holland Taylor- Two and a Half Men
Vanessa Williams- Ugly Betty

You'd have to think the Two and a Half Men co-stars will split votes. Weeds doesn't really have enough cultural buzz to upset any of the favorites. Vanessa Williams will probably win because Ugly Betty is the big buzz show this year but I'll predict Jenna Fischer in a mini-upset. Her portrayal of Pam was the anchor of the love quadrangle on The Office

Supporting Actor- Comedy Series:

Jon Cryer- Two and a Half Men
Kevin Dillon- Entourage
Neil Patrick Harris- How I Met Your Mother
Jeremy Piven- Entourage
Rainn Wilson- The Office

I guess I need to apply the same theory as the last category (although I think Dillon has a good shot at this) and eliminate the Entourage guys. I like Rainn Wilson as Dwight, and Cryer is ok. However Harris on How I Met Your Mother is really funny which surprises me becasue I wasn't crazy about the show at first. The former Doogie gets my vote.

Lead Actress- Comedy Series:

America Ferrera- Ugly Betty
Tina Fey- 30 Rock
Felicity Huffman- Desperate Housewives
Julie Louis Dreyfus- The New Adventures of Old Christine
Mary-Lousie Parker- Weeds

We can probably rule out Weeds again. Huffman as well because Housewives has fallen off the pop-culture cliff. Tina Fey was very good on her sitcom as is Dreyfus but I think the buzz surrounding Ugly Betty gets Ferrera the nod in this category. Although I really hope either Dreyfus or Fey win.

Lead Actor- Comedy Series:

Alec Baldwin- 30 Rock
Steve Carrell- The Office
Ricky Gervais- Extras
Tony Shaloub- Monk
Charlie Sheen- Two and a Half Men

I'm knocking out Sheen at the star and Gervais. Both perfectly acceptable shows but not enough of the hype surrounding them. Shaloub is good as Monk but I think this category belongs to Baldwin. The tape of him yelling at his kid might hurt him but Emmy voters love movie stars coming to the small screen. 30 Rock was a really great show you should check out now on DVD.

Series- Comedy:

Entourage
The Office
30 Rock
Two and a Half Men
Ugly Betty

I love Entourage but this was far from their best season. Two and a Half Men probably doesn't even belong in this discussion. Ugly Betty might win becasue it is beloved right now but I think it comes down to one of the NBC comedies. The Office will probably win but the Emmy voters like to stick up for the underdogs (they gave Arrested Development the award the other year when it faced cancellation) so I think they will do the same here and give the award to the ratings-challenged but very hilarious 30 Rock.

Supporting Actress- Drama Series:

Lorraine Bracco- The Sopranos
Rachel Griffiths- Brothers and Sisters
Katherine Heigl- Grey's Anatomy
Sandra Oh- Grey's Anatomy
Aida Turturro- The Sopranos
Chandra Wilson- Grey's Anatomy

I'm not breaking my rule, because there is no way Griffiths wins this award. It will most likely be won by Sandra Oh who is really the best thing about the big show in many ways. Wouldn't surprise me to see Bracco win though.

Suporting Actor- Drama Series:

Michael Emerson- Lost
Michael Imperioli- The Sopranos
T.R. Knight- Grey's Anatomy
Terry O'Quinn- Lost
Masi Oka- Heroes
William Shatner- Boston Legal

Boston Legal is terrible. Heroes is ok but I'm not sure if Oka should win. Emerson was so good on Lost that I think he pulls out the win.

Lead Actress- Drama Series:

Patricia Arquette- Medium
Minnie Driver- The Riches
Edie Falco- The Sopranos
Sally Field- Brothers and Sisters
Mariska Hargitay- Law and Order: SVU
Kyra Sedwick- The Closer

Mariska, Sally, and Kyra won't win. Edie Falco flies way under the radar on The Sopranos and won't win. I can't see Patricia winning either. I'm going to go out on a big limb and predict Minnie Driver gets the upset winning for The Riches. Although Sally Field will probably win.

Lead Actor- Drama Series:

James Gandolfini- The Sopranos
Hugh Laurie- House
Dennis Leary- Rescue Me
James Spader- Boston Legal
Keifer Sutherland- 24

Bad year for 24 so Keifer loses. Boston Legal is awful so Spader better lose. Hugh Laurie is consistently great on House and Rescue Me was really good this past season but they all lose out to Tony Soprano himself. Gandolfini will win while pulling off some bad writing.

Series- Drama:

Boston Legal
Grey's Anatomy
Heroes
House
The Sopranos

Last season it is on the air- as good as all those other shows are (except for the shitty Boston Legal) there is no way The Sopranos lose.


There are my picks.
- posted by Brian @ 9/12/2007 02:06:00 PM

 
The Post with me discussing Britney
I'm sure you've heard by now or seen teh video of Brtiney's embarassing performance on the VMA's. Half the time she just didn't seem to even care about lip-synching the correct words.

Entertainment sites bashed her considerably mere seconds after her performance ended. However they have gotten crazy in celebrity land bashing her for being fat. FAT? Have you seen the pictures? Go look at this article with a pic enclosed...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/11/bulging.britney.ap/index.html


That is fat? Granted she doesn't have the abs she did when she was 17 but she is now 25 and has had 2 kids. That girl looks pretty damn good for all that.

Entertainment and gossip sites need to decide how they want it- are girls too skinny or too fat? Either end of the spectrum is bad but Brtiney's body anymore looks- well- kinda normal. I go to the gym 5 days a week and see women working as hard as they can to get a body that looks remotely close to that.

They have got to stop sending mixed signals to teenage girls. It's ok to say the Nicole Richie's of the world look unhealthy (when they did). But to say Britney looks fat is completely ridiculous. Again she looks normal- nothing wrong with that, and it makes girls think the range of health is between being too skinny and normal. It's a range that is way too inflated towards one side.
- posted by Brian @ 9/11/2007 02:11:00 PM

 
The Post talking about the Last of the Breed
If you know me, you know I love country music. Always have, always will. I have fond memories of listening to WXTU and some of my family's old country records and learning to love the songs about life.

Saturday night I went with two friends to see The Last of the Breed Tour at the Sovereign Center. The tour consisted of Ray Price, Merle Haggard, and Willie Nelson.

I was surprised at the mix in the crowd. There were a lot of older people there which kind of gave the show a feel of Branson or at the very least the week we vacationed near Dollywood. Also there were quite a few people my age there which was refreshing. Today when people say they like country music it means they listen to Kenny Chesney or Rascal Flatts which doesn't really qualify. I don't want to seem like I'm bashing those guys because they are good at what they do (for the most part) However, their version of country is pop music run through the country-o-matic and overproduced so as a track it sounds indistinguishible from 90's pop. It makes a lot of people a lot of money but for a hardcore like me- this isn't the country music I grew up on. Too often it leads to awkward crowds like when I saw George Strait, so it was good to see there are people who appreciate the classics.

Ray Price was out first and had a huge backing band. For being 81 years old the dude can still sing the hell out of a song. He hit all the classics of his including, "City Lights," "Crazy Arms," "Move on In and Stay," and my personal Price favorite "Heartaches by the Number." I can recall being little and sitting in my grandmother's living room listening to the shuffling beat of pre 50's and early 50's country, so it was awesome to see and hear the guy sing live.

Next out was the guy I was most looking forward to of the three. Somewhere in the late 80's around 7 or 8 I found an album at a yard sale entitled, "If We Make it Through December." I had never heard anything on it but I recognized the name on the front as another person I had listen to a few years earlier. That man was Merle Haggard. (I've since lost that record- dammit).

Once I started into him he became easily one of my favorites. Still to this day he is. Noone in country music championed the working class as well as him and all his songs while following the usual country tried and true formula were surprisingly upbeat. Also with his electirc guitar he pretty much issued into country the electric sound but still found time to go back and release tribute albums to Bob Willis who was as far from electric as you can get. Haggard is pretty much a blues man in country clothing.

He came out and pretty much hit every song in his catalog you could think of. He opened with 'Workin' Man Blues," and ended with "Okie from Muskogee" finding time to squeeze in everything from Johnny Cash songs to some old Bob Wills stuff. On the latter stuff he broke out the fiddle and played that.

While he sang Muskogee, Willie Nelson came out to join him which led into Willie's set.

Now Willie Nelson is not just a great country songwriter- he's a great songwriter in general. For his set he sang as many different songs of his he has written as possible- everything from, teh Patsy Cline classic "Crazy" to the tribute to women who love their crazy other halfs, "A Good Hearted Woman" to the Julio Iglesias duet "To All the Girls I've Loved Before." At the end he turned it into a revival singing "I'll Fly Away."

For three guys who are 225 years old combined the three old pros commanded the stage and put together a show that was a great country music show. It also further cemented what makes the genre great for me, and I'm sure many others in attendance.
- posted by Brian @ 9/10/2007 02:13:00 PM

 
The Post with my Week 1 Football Picks
I know normally Fridays in here would mean the week's bizarre news stories but we will have a slight schedule change for the next couple months. I had so much fun picking games in the playoffs last year - badly I might add- that I wanted to do it for an entire season. And prove that my subpar postseason record was a fluke as I know something about football (however small it may be). So from now til February the crazy news will be on Thursdays and football picks will be Fridays. So now you have two theme days a week- Congrats for you.

Also- I did pick Indianapolis to win last night so I'm taking credit for it- argue amongst yourselves if you want to give me credit for it or not.



New Orleans at Indianapolis, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 9

Denver at Buffalo, 1 p.m.- Buffalo is one of my sleeper teams this year and that young defense will be tested immeadiately. I still think Denver has enough defensively to stop the Bills.

Pittsburgh at Cleveland, 1 p.m.- The Brady Quinn era begins in Cleveland in roughly 7 weeks. The phone calls to sports radio in Cleveland wanting it to start week 2 will begin 5 minutes after the game.

Philadelphia at Green Bay, 1 p.m.- Green Bay is better defensively but Philly is strong on the road.

Kansas City at Houston, 1 p.m.- Larry Johnson sat out too much time this pre-season and won't have his legs under him yet. The defense is old and Matt Schaub picks up a win in his Texans debut.

Tennessee at Jacksonville, 1 p.m.- This game scares me. Tennessee is one of those teams you cna go either way on. Jacksonville just changed quarterbacks. I think defensively they will frustrate Vince Young enough to win.

Atlanta at Minnesota, 1 p.m.- This would be my upset of the week. A powerful running game against a defense that is missing it's defensive coordinator of a year ago and Harrington will do enough to win this game.

New England at N.Y. Jets, 1 p.m.- This is a trap game out of the gate for the Pats. They are missing two of their best defensive players and might be without Randy Moss in a possibly rainy Meadowlands. I think they can grind out a low scoring win but wouldn't be surprised if the Jets pull this out on a last second field goal.

Carolina at St. Louis, 1 p.m.- St. Louis is my other sleeper team. Love the offense, less enthusastic about the defense. With the weapons they have though as long as the defense ranks somewhere around 17 on the season they can win games. I think they beat Carolina on the turf.

Miami at Washington, 1 p.m.- Washington is posied to take another step on the positive side and they get started by knocking off the Dolphins.

Detroit at Oakland, 4:15 p.m.- Black hole or not, Detroit goes into Oakland and knocks off the Raiders.

Chicago at San Diego, 4:15 p.m.- San Diego offense is just too good for the Bears defense and Rex Grossman won't be able to do enough to counter that.

Tampa Bay at Seattle, 4:15 p.m.- Seattle will grind the ball all day against the Bucs and cruise to an opening day win.

N.Y. Giants at Dallas, 8:15 p.m.- Dallas is a very good team at home and they will knock off the ready to fall apart Giants.

Monday, Sept. 10

Baltimore at Cincinnati, 7 p.m.- Bitter rivals usually means pick the home team. I see no reason to change that when the Bengals offense is perfectly capable of holding up under the Ravens pressure.

Arizona at San Francisco, 10:15 p.m.- Love the Cardinals and Ken Wisenhunt will get his new regime off to a fast start with a minor upset over the 49ers.
- posted by Brian @ 9/07/2007 12:52:00 PM

 
The Post with discussing John Cusack's career
John Cusack in an interview with UK magazine "The Guardian" made the comment today that he has only been in 10 good movies in his career. Considering he has been in 50, by his account he is batting .200 as far as good films go. I can see that because I'm sure there are films actors take just becasue it means a decent payday. He himself said he did "Con Air" as a business move.

So the game is what are the 10 movies he was in that are great (Personal preference obviously) I'll give you a clue- he counts his newest film "1408" among the ten. So take a look at his filmography and have at it.

My guesses would be 1408, Sixteen Candles, Stand By Me, Eight Men Out, Say Anything, Grosse Pointe Blank, The Thin Red Line, High Fidelity, Being John Malkovich, and even though I know it's wrong one of my guilty pleasure movies Serendipity.


Class (1983)
Sixteen Candles (1984)
Grandview, U.S.A. (1984)
The Sure Thing (1985)
The Journey of Natty Gann (1985)
Better Off Dead (1985)
Stand by Me (1986)
One Crazy Summer (1986)
Hot Pursuit (1987)
Eight Men Out (1988)
Tapeheads (1988)
Elvis Stories (1989) (short subject)
Say Anything (1989)
Fat Man and Little Boy (1989)
The Grifters (1990)
True Colors (1991)
Shadows and Fog (1992)
The Player (1992) (Cameo)
Bob Roberts (1992)
Roadside Prophets (1992)
Map of the Human Heart (1993)
Money for Nothing (1993)
Floundering (1994)
Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
The Road to Wellville (1994)
City Hall (1996)
Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
Con Air (1997)
Anastasia (1997) (voice)
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
Chicago Cab (1998)
This Is My Father (1998)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
Pushing Tin (1999)
Cradle Will Rock (1999)
Being John Malkovich (1999)
The Jack Bull (1999)
High Fidelity (2000)
America's Sweethearts (2001)
Serendipity (2001)
Max (2002)
Adaptation. (2002) (Cameo)
Identity (2003)
Breakfast With Hunter (2003) (documentary)
Runaway Jury (2003)
Must Love Dogs (2005)
The Ice Harvest (2005)
Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film (2006) (documentary)
Summerhood (2006) (documentary) (narrator)
The Contract (2006)
1408 (2007)
- posted by Brian @ 9/06/2007 02:40:00 PM

 
The Post with me talking about some random things
- Rob Zombie's new Halloween is not very good. Very disappointing to me.

- Saturday I went out to visit some friends at the Turner 12 hour picnic/party. As always it was a good time and I love getting to hang out with all those people. I wish I lived closer to them so I could get together more often. Still though good times and I was glad to see some people I haven't seen in a really long time like Dave and Vance.

- The bright idea I had was to drive home after the party and sleep in my bed becasue I was completely exhausted after my week and Friday night so I figured sleeping in my own bed would help me out. So I drove home at about 1:45 in the morning (which was fine I had stopped drinking around like 11 for the most part). Until I stopped at Wal-Mart and everything I got home and in my bed at 4 am. Sunday I got up and felt like I had slept for days- real nice deep sleep in my chilly room. I look at my phone and it is 7:35 am. I laid there for about 45 minutes before I decided this was useless and got up. So all day Sunday I felt tired and was unable to nap no matter how hard I tried. I was catching up on some stuff I wanted to watch but my body wnated to sleep and my brain was against that. I went and washed my car at the car wash (it's an every 4 car wash occurance- give or take) and then came home and made my dinner for the night and put it in the slow cooker. For those wondering I made this recipe called "Tamale Pie," it was ok but nothing special as I had to adjust the recipe some to fit my food preferences- Cola Chicken still rules over that. I slept about 45 minutes in that time so that helped some. Got up, ate dinner, watched some TV- including the season finale of "Entourage" which was a great, classic episode "There's a guy from Viking Quest that's been fucking this girl on the beach for over 3 hours," and then the last part of the Saturday Night Live special. Got to bed around 11 and slept til about 9:30.

- Monday when I got up I put myself to work right away doing some stuff in the yard and getting the pool ready to be closed up. I also swept the backyard and fixed the weed whacker. I'm like handy and stuff. Came in for dinner and then hung around watching some tv before bed.

- Here I am at work.


The end.
- posted by Brian @ 9/04/2007 02:25:00 PM