Cockfights and Road Favorites
After going 1-1 in college games last weekend, I also went 1-1 in the pros, as the Jets came through, 20-14 over Miami, while the Lions did not, losing 34-21 to Atlanta. Is bargaining one of the stages of denial? Yesterday I was thinking that while Bill Parcells is probably washed up, the Lions, much like the Dolphins, would be happy to have him, even though he would assuredly re-re-re-retire right when the Lions were on the cusp of...something. Respectability? The playoffs?
Lets not get carried away.
Then I realized that in Detroit's case, much of the appeal of Parcells would be getting rid of Matt Millen. Heck, I'd probably go for one of the Olsen twins GM-ing the Lions to get rid of Millen. Both? Fine, both.
In a similar vein, I'd probably go for the Lions getting trounced by awful teams with rookie quarterbacks if it led to a Millen-less Detroit. Is Oakland on the schedule? I think we played them a year or two ago, so probably not.
Alot of NFL teams' performances can be compared to a sine wave. Week to week performances change like little waves, and seasonal performances change the same way. Currently the New Orleans Saints wave fluctuates between playoff contender and 3rd place in the NFC South. This wave probably describes three of the four teams in the NFC South. The other flutters between having a quarterback under investigation for dog fighting, and having a quarterback doing time for dog fighting. Just kidding. While Boston College students often have a penchant for illegal gambling, there is no reason to think Matt Ryan needs a dogfighting fix every couple of weeks.
On a related note, Heisman Trophy quarterback Tim Tebow was born in the Philippines, where cockfighting is legal. Wouldn't it be awesome if it turned out that Tebow owned chicken farms in Mindanao, where he personally oversees the breeding of champion roosters? I think this already happened with some Dominican MLB player (betting, not breeding), but the media would totally go after Tebow, since he is such an all-american kid. Similarly, I imagine the media would make a bigger deal of it if he was engaged to Kim Kardashian (as opposed to Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush). Or would they? Wasn't Matt Leinert doing Paris Hilton a couple of years ago?
Interestingly enough, while cockfighting is legal in the Philippines, it is glamourized there in TV ads that make it look illegal. The commercials always show old, important looking men standing in shadowy rooms, smiling and petting the roosters they cradle in their arms. While these ads didn't make much sense to me, I'm pretty sure I got the message, even though I couldn't understand a word. Did these ads make me want to go see a cockfight? Yeah, or at least watch it on TV, though I think then you lose much of the mob mentality and bloodlust that are probably 80% of the appeal of these events. Televised or not, cockfights take place on Sunday afternoons. Aficionados go directly to the fights after Mass, or skip Mass to give their birds pep-talks.
I could go on about cockfights, and probably will at some point (my mother-in-law loves them), but I was making a point about NFL teams and sine waves.
The Lions sine wave fluctuates between seasons where they tease us by winning games for half the season, and seasons where they let the cat out of the bag a bit sooner.
Getting trounced by the Falcons in week one? Sooner as you can get. Matt Ryan's team gets 34 points in his first start? That's about as soon as it gets. For all the naysayers, I could see Matt Ryan getting Rookie of the Year honors if the Falcons go 7-9 and he throws six or eight more TDs than INTs this year. When was the last time a QB won rookie of the year?
Oops. Two quarterbacks won it in the last four years. Vince Young and Ben Roethlisberger. On the other hand, only one other quarterback has ever won it, Dennis Shaw in 1970. Who?
This is not me trying to find reasons not to give up on the Lions for another season. The only place I'm looking for reasons is in the win column....
If you think this is a buildup to me justifying betting against the Lions, you must be one of my two readers. Most of the above is essentially me wrestling with my shrivled conscience. I'd say I won by a knockout, but I hate to mix metaphors.
I also hate to do things out of order, but why wait? packers(-3) over LIONS. I hate these divisional games, because they are always tougher and closer than they should be, but...not always. Prove me wrong Lions. And while you're granting wishes, fire Matt Millen. I should get a Matt Millen voodoo doll.
Speaking of voodoo dolls, Notre Dame plays Michigan in a couple of hours. As I've discussed previously, voodoo doesn't work against Michigan, because you cant dress up a man shaped doll like a Wolverine. (You can, but it doesn't work.) It makes me wonder if they would substitute a teddy bear, or maybe Jimmy Clausen's pet ferret. (Come on Jimmy, take one for the team! We'll get you another marginally tamed rodent....)
Notre Dame may not even need voodoo to beat Michigan this year. So far they haven't shown themselves to be any good. On the other hand, neither has Notre Dame. I usually hope ND wins so they have a better chance of getting blindsided by Michigan State, but right now I fully expect to beat them either way. At this point I think we might be better than Michigan too, but I expect Michigan will be rolling by that time. I don't think State will be favored against Michigan. On the other hand, barring an upset victory my the Irish, I expect to be favored by seven to ten next week, so...michigan (-2.5) over NOTREDAME.
With Ohio State's season in jeopardy, there is a chance Wisconsin will emerge as the team to beat in the Big 10+1. wisconsin (-2)over FRESNOSTATE. I imagine Fresno is better than San Diego State, but still... I'll take the Badgers for less than a FG.
Ouch. I've turned on the pre-game hype, and Fresno State may be the best non-BCS team in the country. Them or East Carolina. So much for "research." Well, the die is cast. I bet on that game a couple of days ago.
I'm teasing Cal-Maryland and Georgia-South Carolina. Six off the spreads gives me
cal(-9) over MARYLAND and georgia(-2) over SOUTHCAROLINA. I know Georgia has had trouble on the road vs the Gamecocks, but they weren't #2 in the polls before either. Not quite sure how they can be a smaller favorite than the other SC is vs Ohio State tonight. This tells me the oddsmakers don't believe in OSU or Georgia. Or they just really like the SEC.
Part of the reason I teased the above games is because bodog has red boxed
michiganstate(-18.5) over FLORIDA ATLANTIC. I'm taking my old school, and so is everybody else. This line was 17 an hour or so ago, and I think it was 17 earlier in the week. I'd lay 5-1 that Michigan State's team has watched 300 before several big games since the movie came out. I'd put the over/under at 4.5. I'd probably put it higher, but I'm not sure if they've had many more big games than that since it came out. On the other hand, my freshman year the team went 6-4-1, but after starting out 0-4-1 we were so happy to finally win a game that we tore down the goal posts, then tore them down every home win that season. We tore down the posts four times. There is a chance they watch 300 before every game.
If the Spartans watch 300 before big games, do the Wolverines watch X-Men?
The heads on TV seem to think Oklahoma is the 2nd best team in the nation. I personally already thought OK vs WA was a huge mismatch, and the heads think Okla can pick their score. So...oklahoma (-21) over WASHINGTON.
I've taken seven road favorites. I could get killed, especially since Cal now trails the Terps 21-6, about three minutes before the half, immediately killing my tease.
Michigan State is up, but only 7-0 in the 3rd quarter. Ick. There's still time though.
Lets not get carried away.
Then I realized that in Detroit's case, much of the appeal of Parcells would be getting rid of Matt Millen. Heck, I'd probably go for one of the Olsen twins GM-ing the Lions to get rid of Millen. Both? Fine, both.
In a similar vein, I'd probably go for the Lions getting trounced by awful teams with rookie quarterbacks if it led to a Millen-less Detroit. Is Oakland on the schedule? I think we played them a year or two ago, so probably not.
Alot of NFL teams' performances can be compared to a sine wave. Week to week performances change like little waves, and seasonal performances change the same way. Currently the New Orleans Saints wave fluctuates between playoff contender and 3rd place in the NFC South. This wave probably describes three of the four teams in the NFC South. The other flutters between having a quarterback under investigation for dog fighting, and having a quarterback doing time for dog fighting. Just kidding. While Boston College students often have a penchant for illegal gambling, there is no reason to think Matt Ryan needs a dogfighting fix every couple of weeks.
On a related note, Heisman Trophy quarterback Tim Tebow was born in the Philippines, where cockfighting is legal. Wouldn't it be awesome if it turned out that Tebow owned chicken farms in Mindanao, where he personally oversees the breeding of champion roosters? I think this already happened with some Dominican MLB player (betting, not breeding), but the media would totally go after Tebow, since he is such an all-american kid. Similarly, I imagine the media would make a bigger deal of it if he was engaged to Kim Kardashian (as opposed to Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush). Or would they? Wasn't Matt Leinert doing Paris Hilton a couple of years ago?
Interestingly enough, while cockfighting is legal in the Philippines, it is glamourized there in TV ads that make it look illegal. The commercials always show old, important looking men standing in shadowy rooms, smiling and petting the roosters they cradle in their arms. While these ads didn't make much sense to me, I'm pretty sure I got the message, even though I couldn't understand a word. Did these ads make me want to go see a cockfight? Yeah, or at least watch it on TV, though I think then you lose much of the mob mentality and bloodlust that are probably 80% of the appeal of these events. Televised or not, cockfights take place on Sunday afternoons. Aficionados go directly to the fights after Mass, or skip Mass to give their birds pep-talks.
I could go on about cockfights, and probably will at some point (my mother-in-law loves them), but I was making a point about NFL teams and sine waves.
The Lions sine wave fluctuates between seasons where they tease us by winning games for half the season, and seasons where they let the cat out of the bag a bit sooner.
Getting trounced by the Falcons in week one? Sooner as you can get. Matt Ryan's team gets 34 points in his first start? That's about as soon as it gets. For all the naysayers, I could see Matt Ryan getting Rookie of the Year honors if the Falcons go 7-9 and he throws six or eight more TDs than INTs this year. When was the last time a QB won rookie of the year?
Oops. Two quarterbacks won it in the last four years. Vince Young and Ben Roethlisberger. On the other hand, only one other quarterback has ever won it, Dennis Shaw in 1970. Who?
This is not me trying to find reasons not to give up on the Lions for another season. The only place I'm looking for reasons is in the win column....
If you think this is a buildup to me justifying betting against the Lions, you must be one of my two readers. Most of the above is essentially me wrestling with my shrivled conscience. I'd say I won by a knockout, but I hate to mix metaphors.
I also hate to do things out of order, but why wait? packers(-3) over LIONS. I hate these divisional games, because they are always tougher and closer than they should be, but...not always. Prove me wrong Lions. And while you're granting wishes, fire Matt Millen. I should get a Matt Millen voodoo doll.
Speaking of voodoo dolls, Notre Dame plays Michigan in a couple of hours. As I've discussed previously, voodoo doesn't work against Michigan, because you cant dress up a man shaped doll like a Wolverine. (You can, but it doesn't work.) It makes me wonder if they would substitute a teddy bear, or maybe Jimmy Clausen's pet ferret. (Come on Jimmy, take one for the team! We'll get you another marginally tamed rodent....)
Notre Dame may not even need voodoo to beat Michigan this year. So far they haven't shown themselves to be any good. On the other hand, neither has Notre Dame. I usually hope ND wins so they have a better chance of getting blindsided by Michigan State, but right now I fully expect to beat them either way. At this point I think we might be better than Michigan too, but I expect Michigan will be rolling by that time. I don't think State will be favored against Michigan. On the other hand, barring an upset victory my the Irish, I expect to be favored by seven to ten next week, so...michigan (-2.5) over NOTREDAME.
With Ohio State's season in jeopardy, there is a chance Wisconsin will emerge as the team to beat in the Big 10+1. wisconsin (-2)over FRESNOSTATE. I imagine Fresno is better than San Diego State, but still... I'll take the Badgers for less than a FG.
Ouch. I've turned on the pre-game hype, and Fresno State may be the best non-BCS team in the country. Them or East Carolina. So much for "research." Well, the die is cast. I bet on that game a couple of days ago.
I'm teasing Cal-Maryland and Georgia-South Carolina. Six off the spreads gives me
cal(-9) over MARYLAND and georgia(-2) over SOUTHCAROLINA. I know Georgia has had trouble on the road vs the Gamecocks, but they weren't #2 in the polls before either. Not quite sure how they can be a smaller favorite than the other SC is vs Ohio State tonight. This tells me the oddsmakers don't believe in OSU or Georgia. Or they just really like the SEC.
Part of the reason I teased the above games is because bodog has red boxed
michiganstate(-18.5) over FLORIDA ATLANTIC. I'm taking my old school, and so is everybody else. This line was 17 an hour or so ago, and I think it was 17 earlier in the week. I'd lay 5-1 that Michigan State's team has watched 300 before several big games since the movie came out. I'd put the over/under at 4.5. I'd probably put it higher, but I'm not sure if they've had many more big games than that since it came out. On the other hand, my freshman year the team went 6-4-1, but after starting out 0-4-1 we were so happy to finally win a game that we tore down the goal posts, then tore them down every home win that season. We tore down the posts four times. There is a chance they watch 300 before every game.
If the Spartans watch 300 before big games, do the Wolverines watch X-Men?
The heads on TV seem to think Oklahoma is the 2nd best team in the nation. I personally already thought OK vs WA was a huge mismatch, and the heads think Okla can pick their score. So...oklahoma (-21) over WASHINGTON.
I've taken seven road favorites. I could get killed, especially since Cal now trails the Terps 21-6, about three minutes before the half, immediately killing my tease.
Michigan State is up, but only 7-0 in the 3rd quarter. Ick. There's still time though.
posted by roQQ | 5:55 AM
1 Comments:
Entertaining as always.
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