NFL bails me out, Can Ronaldo bail out United?
The NFL saved my weekend, as I went 2-0-1 there, bringing me to 4-3-1 overall. The Lions were scrappy enough to give Green Bay problems, but not good enough to keep it together, losing 48-25. The teams combined for 40 points in the 4th quarter, Detroit scoring the first 16, before the Pack rallied to double their score in the last six minutes. Aaron Rodgers looks pretty good...against the Lions anyway.
In a game I didn't pick, the Giants trounced the Rams, 41-13. I wasn't convinced the Giants deserved to be favored by nine on the road...on the other hand this was the Rams, and the Giants never lose on the road. I suppose it made as much sense as giving seven or so with the Cardinals against the 'Fins, though since Arizona won that one, 31-10, I'm not apologizing for it either.
The Chargers lost a heartbreaker in Denver, as they roared back from a 31-17 deficit to lead
38-31, before the Broncos came back to win 39-38. Heartbreaking for them, but I'm happy with a push, since I was behind by 13 at the half. The way my weekend started out, I really don't feel like I should be up, so why get greedy? If Denver doesn't go for two, they might win by 3 in OT, and that wouldn't help my cause, any. I still think San Diego can win this division, especially if Denver's defense doesn't improve, but they still feel like a team that will choke in the playoffs, as wide-open as the AFC may be.
WARNING: SOCCER FOLLOWS...SOCCER THREATCON RED
Manchester United is off to a slow start, and their sponsor, AIG, has just been bailed out by the Federal Reserve. Is a new sponsor in Man U's future? Judging by the example of Newcastle United, and their sponsor Northern Rock, who was nationalized almost exactly a year ago, no. Apparently Northern Rock's risk was underwritten by Lehman Brothers starting in 2006. Not sure how significant Northern Rock's failure was in Lehman Bros going under. You'd think the British government would be covering them, so I'm guessing Lehman was handling a bunch more risk as well. If Northern Rock can keep sponsoring NU, I suppose AIG can keep sponsoring Man U, though I see the AIG on United's chest as a badge of shame. At least NR is a local brand, much like Newcastle Brown Ale. Manchester United is the sort of global powerhouse that could get any sponsor. On the other hand, maybe they could charge AIG/the Fed through the nose for the advertising space. United could be Johnnie Cochrane to AIG's O.J. Simpson. I'm trying to think of a better metaphor, but I don't want to tone down the harshness.
I've complained in the past about Chelsea being sponsored by SAMSUNGmobile, since in Korea everyone thinks you are just wearing a SAMSUNG shirt, despite the fact that Korea is football mad. (I guess it shows that Chelsea isn't quite a world brand, though they seem to be on the verge. It's tough to argue that Chelsea isn't one of the top two teams in the world right now. I think they have been for at least two years, but when AC Milan, Barca, and Liverpool keep winning the Champions League it muddies the waters a bit.) At least Samsung isn't going out of business. If they are, expect to see some Koreans jumping out of windows.
On the other hand, Anheuiser Busch just got bought by the Belgians. This can't help George Busch's popularity any, not to mention distributorship heiress John McCain....
Manchester United should go with a proven winner, like Stella Artois, or Heinz. Heinz may not have been able to get ketchup heiress John Kerry elected, but their logo would look great on
Man U's red shirts....
Or Liverpool's, but Carlsberg isn't going anywhere....
Or Arsenal's but if any airline can handle high oil prices, I'd bet on Emirates--or Southwest.
I know the last time Chelsea lost at Stamford Bridge was four coaches ago, but I'll go out on a very short limb and predict a Chelsea victory (not just a draw) vs the staggering Manchester United Red Devils this weekend. Bodog is giving me 10-8.7 odds on this, which works out to about a reverse vig.
Speaking of John Kerry, marrying an heiress, blowing her billions on political campaigns, only to pick a lightweight veep with nice hair didn't work for him, so...
At least John Edwards waited four years to air his families' dirty laundry. Sarah M. Pailin* waited about four hours, or four days, depending on whether we are talking about her knocked-up daughter and her self-proclaimed redneck baby-daddy, or the thing with her brother-in-law.
It's too bad her husband's Alaska Independance party wasn't more successful. Then Sarah Baraccuda could have cited shaking down Washington for earmarks as foreign policy experience. Alaska could be a banana republic, only without the bananas.
For those of you on the religious right who didn't like Mitt Romney because he was LDS, go spend some time with some Mormons, and then spend some time with some Pentecostals, and see who you want running the country. Mormans may come on like an unholy union of Trekkies and Amway, but they are consistently responsible, organized, and generally pleasant. Really, this is just a nice way of saying they don't scare the crap out of me. I mean, they scare me, but they don't make me feel like somebody slipped me an Ex-Lax mickey in my Mocha.
SOCCER THREATCON IS NOW GREEN--
Did I say LDSers are responsible, organised, and generally pleasant? You could say the same thing about Catholics, except when the Notre Dame faithful inflict voodoo style torture on the Sparty doll before the Michigan State game, that is! Top that segue, you Palin-hating vipers!** Will the Irish bust out the voodoo? They are 2-0, so they have something worth compromising their karma for.
I said last week I expected MSU to be favored by...7-10 if my memory serves me, unless ND handled Michigan. Did I say by at least two scores? I can't remember. Anyway, MSU is favored by nine despite the Irish beating Michigan by 18. Apparently the linesmakers are factoring in Michigan's six turnovers. Money is coming in on the Irish, enough to move the vig, but not the points.
I don't know about the linesmakers, but State hasn't impressed me. Why?
They beat Florida Atlantic. Wow.
They didn't cover. Shame on me for giving 18.5.
Right now Notre Dame scares the crap out of me, without even speaking in tongues or anything like that. They believe in themselves right now, and while I'm not convinced they are any good, I'm not convinced State is either. State could win by 30 or lose by 21, and it wouldn't surprise me much. Is that how they got State by nine (30 minus 21)? No. The average of those is State by 4.5. I just may take the over, if they ever put it out...I'm guessing it will be about 54, however. I'd say between 50 and 56...if it's 49.5 I may jump on it. Does anyone think State has a defense this year? I'm not convinced.
I'm not saying that BYU is above using voodoo, but apparently they didn't need to against UCLA. 55-0? Really? Is UCLA that bad? Are they sandbagging, so they can lose to USC later by 27 and still cover? Remember when UCLA was good? I'm not talking about John Wooden hoops, I'm talking about several Bruin teams that won Rose Bowls. I'm not old enough to remember the Wooden era, and I expect to take a bath if and when I ever start wagering on college hoops.
Anyway, enough on Michigan State-Notre Dame, since I'm not willing to bet on it. I'll come back with some picks in my next installment, even though I haven't found any yet.
*How do you copyright a name? I need to copyright "Sarah Impalin'" before somebody else figures out the name of the next great porn star...also Impaling Sara, and whatever other various spellings I can come up with. I should have copywrote "Weapons of Ass Destruction" before that crap movie was made. I could be collecting royalties right now. I could have Teagen Pressley on my Facebook page, or vice versa....Am I the only one who thinks our next vice president would be perfect for an episode of "My First Sex Teacher"? No? I figure he could be the Dean at the University of Delaware, or maybe catch some coed plaguerizing and teach her a lesson.
**The media, I mean.
In a game I didn't pick, the Giants trounced the Rams, 41-13. I wasn't convinced the Giants deserved to be favored by nine on the road...on the other hand this was the Rams, and the Giants never lose on the road. I suppose it made as much sense as giving seven or so with the Cardinals against the 'Fins, though since Arizona won that one, 31-10, I'm not apologizing for it either.
The Chargers lost a heartbreaker in Denver, as they roared back from a 31-17 deficit to lead
38-31, before the Broncos came back to win 39-38. Heartbreaking for them, but I'm happy with a push, since I was behind by 13 at the half. The way my weekend started out, I really don't feel like I should be up, so why get greedy? If Denver doesn't go for two, they might win by 3 in OT, and that wouldn't help my cause, any. I still think San Diego can win this division, especially if Denver's defense doesn't improve, but they still feel like a team that will choke in the playoffs, as wide-open as the AFC may be.
WARNING: SOCCER FOLLOWS...SOCCER THREATCON RED
Manchester United is off to a slow start, and their sponsor, AIG, has just been bailed out by the Federal Reserve. Is a new sponsor in Man U's future? Judging by the example of Newcastle United, and their sponsor Northern Rock, who was nationalized almost exactly a year ago, no. Apparently Northern Rock's risk was underwritten by Lehman Brothers starting in 2006. Not sure how significant Northern Rock's failure was in Lehman Bros going under. You'd think the British government would be covering them, so I'm guessing Lehman was handling a bunch more risk as well. If Northern Rock can keep sponsoring NU, I suppose AIG can keep sponsoring Man U, though I see the AIG on United's chest as a badge of shame. At least NR is a local brand, much like Newcastle Brown Ale. Manchester United is the sort of global powerhouse that could get any sponsor. On the other hand, maybe they could charge AIG/the Fed through the nose for the advertising space. United could be Johnnie Cochrane to AIG's O.J. Simpson. I'm trying to think of a better metaphor, but I don't want to tone down the harshness.
I've complained in the past about Chelsea being sponsored by SAMSUNGmobile, since in Korea everyone thinks you are just wearing a SAMSUNG shirt, despite the fact that Korea is football mad. (I guess it shows that Chelsea isn't quite a world brand, though they seem to be on the verge. It's tough to argue that Chelsea isn't one of the top two teams in the world right now. I think they have been for at least two years, but when AC Milan, Barca, and Liverpool keep winning the Champions League it muddies the waters a bit.) At least Samsung isn't going out of business. If they are, expect to see some Koreans jumping out of windows.
On the other hand, Anheuiser Busch just got bought by the Belgians. This can't help George Busch's popularity any, not to mention distributorship heiress John McCain....
Manchester United should go with a proven winner, like Stella Artois, or Heinz. Heinz may not have been able to get ketchup heiress John Kerry elected, but their logo would look great on
Man U's red shirts....
Or Liverpool's, but Carlsberg isn't going anywhere....
Or Arsenal's but if any airline can handle high oil prices, I'd bet on Emirates--or Southwest.
I know the last time Chelsea lost at Stamford Bridge was four coaches ago, but I'll go out on a very short limb and predict a Chelsea victory (not just a draw) vs the staggering Manchester United Red Devils this weekend. Bodog is giving me 10-8.7 odds on this, which works out to about a reverse vig.
Speaking of John Kerry, marrying an heiress, blowing her billions on political campaigns, only to pick a lightweight veep with nice hair didn't work for him, so...
At least John Edwards waited four years to air his families' dirty laundry. Sarah M. Pailin* waited about four hours, or four days, depending on whether we are talking about her knocked-up daughter and her self-proclaimed redneck baby-daddy, or the thing with her brother-in-law.
It's too bad her husband's Alaska Independance party wasn't more successful. Then Sarah Baraccuda could have cited shaking down Washington for earmarks as foreign policy experience. Alaska could be a banana republic, only without the bananas.
For those of you on the religious right who didn't like Mitt Romney because he was LDS, go spend some time with some Mormons, and then spend some time with some Pentecostals, and see who you want running the country. Mormans may come on like an unholy union of Trekkies and Amway, but they are consistently responsible, organized, and generally pleasant. Really, this is just a nice way of saying they don't scare the crap out of me. I mean, they scare me, but they don't make me feel like somebody slipped me an Ex-Lax mickey in my Mocha.
SOCCER THREATCON IS NOW GREEN--
Did I say LDSers are responsible, organised, and generally pleasant? You could say the same thing about Catholics, except when the Notre Dame faithful inflict voodoo style torture on the Sparty doll before the Michigan State game, that is! Top that segue, you Palin-hating vipers!** Will the Irish bust out the voodoo? They are 2-0, so they have something worth compromising their karma for.
I said last week I expected MSU to be favored by...7-10 if my memory serves me, unless ND handled Michigan. Did I say by at least two scores? I can't remember. Anyway, MSU is favored by nine despite the Irish beating Michigan by 18. Apparently the linesmakers are factoring in Michigan's six turnovers. Money is coming in on the Irish, enough to move the vig, but not the points.
I don't know about the linesmakers, but State hasn't impressed me. Why?
They beat Florida Atlantic. Wow.
They didn't cover. Shame on me for giving 18.5.
Right now Notre Dame scares the crap out of me, without even speaking in tongues or anything like that. They believe in themselves right now, and while I'm not convinced they are any good, I'm not convinced State is either. State could win by 30 or lose by 21, and it wouldn't surprise me much. Is that how they got State by nine (30 minus 21)? No. The average of those is State by 4.5. I just may take the over, if they ever put it out...I'm guessing it will be about 54, however. I'd say between 50 and 56...if it's 49.5 I may jump on it. Does anyone think State has a defense this year? I'm not convinced.
I'm not saying that BYU is above using voodoo, but apparently they didn't need to against UCLA. 55-0? Really? Is UCLA that bad? Are they sandbagging, so they can lose to USC later by 27 and still cover? Remember when UCLA was good? I'm not talking about John Wooden hoops, I'm talking about several Bruin teams that won Rose Bowls. I'm not old enough to remember the Wooden era, and I expect to take a bath if and when I ever start wagering on college hoops.
Anyway, enough on Michigan State-Notre Dame, since I'm not willing to bet on it. I'll come back with some picks in my next installment, even though I haven't found any yet.
*How do you copyright a name? I need to copyright "Sarah Impalin'" before somebody else figures out the name of the next great porn star...also Impaling Sara, and whatever other various spellings I can come up with. I should have copywrote "Weapons of Ass Destruction" before that crap movie was made. I could be collecting royalties right now. I could have Teagen Pressley on my Facebook page, or vice versa....Am I the only one who thinks our next vice president would be perfect for an episode of "My First Sex Teacher"? No? I figure he could be the Dean at the University of Delaware, or maybe catch some coed plaguerizing and teach her a lesson.
**The media, I mean.
posted by roQQ | 2:20 PM
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