Week 4 Bookieman

NCAA:  Oklahoma State -3 vs. Texas A&M  Tonight
Notre Dame -2.5 at B.C. even at 1-3 the Irish have more talent than BC and if BK is the coach that Irish brass think he is then he can make that talent work on Saturday.
Florida +8 at Alabama, I think the Tide win but not by more than a TD.
Northwestern -5 at Minnesota, if Gophers can lose at home to NIU they can to N'western too


NFL: Cincinnati -4 at Cleveland, Jets/Bills Over 37, Indianapolis -8 at Jaxville, Seattle -1 at St. Louis, Texans/Raiders Over 43, Washington +6 at Philadelphia, and Chicago +4 at NY Giants

POOLS: Survivor pool Saints and Packers
Loser pool Lions, Lions, Panthers
Pick 6: OK St -3, ND -3, Cincy -4, NYJ/Buf Over 37, Indy -8, Hou/Oak Over 43
NFL 5-Team: Cincy -3, Indy -7.5, Seattle -1, Wash +6, Chicago +4

Overall Record: 24-17-4

Fantasy Football Week 3 Recap

Another week of 3-2, 2 of the 3 wins kept me undefeated in 2 leagues.

WPM - QB 2 RB 2 WR TE K DST   0-2  Won 72 - 65
Philip Rivers - 27, Joseph Addai - 3, LeSean McCoy - 5, Ochocinco - 3, Eddie Royal - 2, Zach Miller(oak) - 12, Mason Crosby - 5 and Steelers - 15.
Opponent: M. Ryan - 21, D. Williams - 6, J. Forsett - 9, G. Jennings - 7, D. Driver - 6, C. Cooley - 5, J. Nedney - 4, Patriots - 7

Sweetness - QB 2RB 2WR TE K DST    2-0  Lost 58 - 104
Carson Palmer - 9, Matt Forte - 3, Michael Turner - 18, Miles Austin - 2, Dwayne Bowe - 12, Vernon Davis - 2, Ryan Succop - 7 and Saints - 5
Opponent: B. Favre - 10, D. Williams - 6, J. Charles - 14, D. Jackson - 21, A. Collie - 29, C. Cooley - 5, R. Gould - 8, Cardinals - 11

FTC - QB  2RB  RB/WR flex  3WR  TE  WR/TE flex  K  DST    1-1  Lost 217-248
Donovan McNabb - 30, Cedric Benson - 49, Rashard Mendenhall - 32, Matt Forte(rb/wr flex) - 18, Greg Jennings - 12, Hines Ward - 17, Kevin Walter - 16, Todd Heap - 14, Dwayne Bowe(wr/te flex) - 15, Matt Prater - 7, and Chargers - 7
Opponent - T. Brady - 48, M. Jones-Drew - 32, A. Peterson - 59, D. Williams - 13, M. Clayton - 19, R. Moss - 20, S. Smith(car) - 10, D. Clark - 17, J. Jones - 17, R. Bironas - 9, Saints - 4

Wannabes - QB 2RB 3WR/TE K DST    2-0  Won 84-65
Donovan McNabb - 16, Ray Rice - 9, Darren McFadden - 16, Dwayne Bowe - 11, Hines Ward - 8, Zach Miller - 11, Ryan Succop - 6, and Redskins - 7
Opponent: D. Brees - 29, J. Addai - 3, J. Best - 3, L. Fitzgerald - 7, J. Finley - 11, V. Shiancoe - 0, R. Gould - 6, and Packers - 6

Addiction - QB 2RB 3WR TE K DST     2-0   Won 100.60 - 98.92
Peyton Manning - 30.90, Rashard Mendenhall - 20.30, Jahvid Best - 3.90, Greg Jennings - 7.80, Hines Ward - 9.20, Louis Murphy - 11.90, Todd Heap - 4.60, Matt Prater - 7.00, and Patriots - 5.00
Opponent: M. Ryan - 23.72, A. Foster - 11.60, L. McCoy - 6.10, A. Johnson - 6.40, M.Austin - 2.00, J. Maclin 20.30, A. Hernandez - 7.80, N. Rackers - 7.0, Steelers - 14.0

Bookieman Week 3 Recap

Having issue loading my image so an image free post.

NCAA:  Alabama -7 at Arkansas, Stanford -4.5 at Notre Dame, and Oregon -11 at Arizona State.  Bama had to rally late to win, Stanford dominated and the Ducks pushed at -11.  1-1-1

NFL: Pittsburgh -3 at Tampa Bay, Cleveland/Baltimore Total Under 37, Detroit +11 at Minnesota, Cincinnati - 3 at Carolina, San Francisco -2.5 at Kansas City, and New Orleans -4 vs Atlanta. Steelers rolled and Bengals looked good on D. Detroit turned the ball over too many times, SF is awful and Atlanta out played the champs. I missed Clev/Bal under should have known better when it looked too easy. 2-4

Pools: Survivor pool, I'll take New England and Baltimore to win. In the losers pool I am sticking with the Bills x2 and the Browns once. I'll keep riding the Bills as long as the match-ups allow. In the Pick 6 I am using Bama and the Ducks along with Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cincinnati, and the Cle/Bal under. For my NFL 5 team parlay I'll use Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cincinnati, New Orleans, and San Francisco.


Survivor pool survived with both entries and losers all lost. 2-4 in pick 6 and 2-3 in 5 team

Overall went 3-5-1 this week, good players will bounce back we'll see what happens

Record: 24-17-4

Fantasy Football Week 3

It has begun, I can't say it is because of the amount of teams I have I think its more because of the amount of time I have. I can't wait for the bye weeks to start so it will stop or at least slow a bit. What is it? It is micro managing my squads. I have looked at each of my teams a half dozen times or more since week 2 ended. I have changed every lineup at least 3 times and I am still 2nd guessing myself. I went 3-2 in week 2. Here are the lineups for week 3.

WPM - QB 2 RB 2 WR TE K DST   0-2
Philip Rivers, Joseph Addai, LeSean McCoy, Ochocinco, Eddie Royal, Zach Miller(oak), Mason Crosby and Steelers.

Sweetness - QB 2RB 2WR TE K DST    2-0
Carson Palmer, Matt Forte, Michael Turner, Miles Austin, Dwayne Bowe, Vernon Davis, Ryan Succop and Saints

FTC - QB  2RB  RB/WR flex  3WR  TE  WR/TE flex  K  DST    1-1
Donovan McNabb, Cedric Benson, Rashard Mendenhall, Matt Forte(rb/wr flex), Greg Jennings, Hines Ward, Kevin Walter, Todd Heap, Dwayne Bowe(wr/te flex), Matt Prater, and Chargers

Wannabes - QB 2RB 3WR/TE K DST    2-0
Donovan McNabb, Ray Rice, Darren McFadden, Dwayne Bowe, Hines Ward, Zach Miller, Ryan Succop, and Redskins

Addiction - QB 2RB 3WR TE K DST     2-0
Peyton Manning, Rashard Mendenhall, Jahvid Best, Greg Jennings, Hines Ward, Steve Breaston/Louis Murphy*, Todd Heap, Matt Prater, and Patriots


* - Waiting on status of Breaston for Sunday.

Scores and opponents lineups on Tuesday.

Bookieman Week 3

Lines being used are current to 2pm on Thursday.

NCAA: I'll take Alabama -7 at Arkansas and hope that the all powerful Nick Saban can beat the Hogs. I can't believe I am taking Stanford -4.5 at Notre Dame, I'll probably get my Domer Fan Card revoked but I haven't seen anything that would suggest the Irish can stop Stanford. [I also believe that the name Notre Dame still carries weight in Vegas and this line should really be closer to Stanford -7. Its that old catholic money that keeps the ND underdog lines closer than they should be and pushes the ND favorite lines higher than they should. Similar to why Cubs to win WS props are always at a lesser price than they should be, the blind faith following.]  Final NCAA selection Oregon -11 at Arizona State. The "Quack Attack" has beat up on some cupcakes but are avg. better than 1 point per minute and that kind of confidence can carry a team against an inferior opponent. So I picked 3 road favorites, 2 of them playing against conference opponents and 1 playing an intellectual rival. No on can accuse me of cherry picking my selections.

NFL: Pittsburgh -3 at Tampa Bay, Cleveland/Baltimore Total Under 37, Detroit +11 at Minnesota, Cincinnati - 3 at Carolina, San Francisco -2.5 at Kansas City, and New Orleans -4 vs Atlanta. Keeping with the road favorite theme, I have 3 more here.Wrapped it up with a road dog, a home favorite and one under.

Pools: Survivor pool, I'll take New England and Baltimore to win. In the losers pool I am sticking with the Bills x2 and the Browns once. I'll keep riding the Bills as long as the match-ups allow. In the Pick 6 I am using Bama and the Ducks along with Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cincinnati, and the Cle/Bal under. For my NFL 5 team parlay I'll use Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cincinnati, New Orleans, and San Francisco.

Record: 21-12-3

Fantasy Football Week 2 Recap

 

Not quite as good as week 1, 3-2. I was completely whipped in the FTC league and lost again in WPM despite putting up 89 points. Won a game in Wannabe's I probably shouldn't have if I had been playing a good team but my opponent there was same guy who selected Brandon Marshall with only 17 players off the board.

WPM - QB 2 RB 2 WR TE K DST   0-1  Lost 101-89
Philip Rivers - 24, Joseph Addai - 11, LeSean McCoy - 30, Ochocinco - 4, Steve Smith(nyg) - 3, Zach Miller(oak) - 4, Mason Crosby - 10 and Texans - 3.
Opponent: A. Rodgers - 28, K. Moreno - 17, D. McFadden - 14, R. Wayne - 15, D. Mason - 9, V. Davis - 9, N. Kaeding - 8, Ravens - 1

Sweetness - QB 2RB 2WR TE K DST    1-0  Won 92-52
Kyle Orton - 23, Matt Forte - 11, Michael Turner - 7, Miles Austin - 14, Dwayne Bowe - 4, Vernon Davis - 9, Sebas. Janikowski - 10, and Saints - 14
Opponent: T. Brady - 15, P. Thomas - 9, MJD - 3, Steve Smith(nyg) - 3, M. Wallace - 2, B. Celek - 2, N. Kaeding - 8, and Jets - 10

FTC - QB  2RB  RB/WR flex  3WR  TE  WR/TE flex  K  DST    1-0  Lost 266-166
Jason Campbell - 10, Cedric Benson - 26, Rashard Mendenhall - 29, Matt Forte(rb/wr flex) - 33, Greg Jennings - 10, Hines Ward - 3, Mike Williams(sea) - 3, Todd Heap - 13, Dwayne Bowe(wr/te flex) - 14, Matt Prater - 7, and Chargers - 18
Opponent: J. Cutler - 49, R. Brown - 18, J. Charles - 17, M. Austin - 37, A. Johnson - 49, L. Murphy - 28, R. Bush - 24, J. Witten - 17, D. Amendola - 13, R. Gould - 9, Eagles - 5

Wannabes - QB 2RB 3WR/TE K DST    1-0  Won 68-37
Jay Cutler - 28, Ray Rice - 11, Ryan Mathews - 4, Dwayne Bowe - 4, Hines Ward - 0, Vernon Davis - 7, Matt Prater - 6, and Redskins - 8
Opponent: B. Favre - 5, J. Forsett - 4, S. Greene - 5, A. Boldin - 3, B. Marshall - 7, S. Moss - 8, R. Bironas - 2, and Patriots - 3

Addiction - QB 2RB 3WR TE K DST     1-0  Won 87.30 - 66.16
Peyton Manning - 27.90, Rashard Mendenhall - 7.20, Tim Hightower 18.40, Greg Jennings - 3.60, Hines Ward - .90, Steve Breaston - 1.00, Jermichael Finley - 10.30, Matt Prater - 7.0, and Chiefs - 11.0
Opponent: J. Flacco - 5.06, R. Mathews - 4.50, B. Jackson - 9.90, R. Wayne - 15.6, Ochocinco - 4.40, M. Massoquoi - .90, J. Carlson - 4.80, S. Janikowski - 11.0, Saints - 10.0

Mr. Big Mouth for the $100 side bet in Addiction lost again and is 0-2 with 149.24 points

Bookieman Week 2 Recap

NCAA are Thursday night NC State -2 vs Cincinnati Wolfpack domination and a W. Saturday I like Texas -3 at Texas Tech it wasn't easy but Texas held on for the W ATS and Boise State -23.5 at Wyoming, Broncos were never in doubt they routed Wyoming.   3-0 ATS

Winners all around in Survivor pool and losers pool with GB and OAK. They were my winners and their opponents my losers.

NFL spreads for week 2, I like KC +1.5 at Cleveland, KC wins by 2.  Bears/Cowboys total over 41, 27-20 Bears, 47 total is a win. Philadelphia -6 at Detroit, Eagles were up 17 in the 4th and let the Lions back in it. That's a loss.  Denver -4 vs. Seattle, Broncos dominated at home for the W. Houston -3 at Washington, Texans by 3 in OT for the tie ATS. Oakland -4 vs. St. Louis, Rams scored with about 6 min to go Raiders were in FG range but had a first down and killed the clock and my bet.  Finished NFL at 3-2-1.



Finished the week 6-2-1


2-3 in 5 team parlay, 3-3 in pick 6

Season record against the spread: 21-12-3

Fantasy Football Week 2

Made it through the first week 4-1, On to Week 2. I made a trade in the FTC league to upgrade my WR's. I traded Maurice Jones-Drew for Rashard Mendenhall and Dwayne Bowe.

WPM - QB 2 RB 2 WR TE K DST   0-1
Philip Rivers, Joseph Addai, LeSean McCoy, Ochocinco, Steve Smith(nyg), Zach Miller(oak), Mason Crosby and Texans.

Sweetness - QB 2RB 2WR TE K DST    1-0
Kyle Orton, Matt Forte, Michael Turner, Miles Austin, Dwayne Bowe, Vernon Davis, Sebas. Janikowski and Saints

FTC - QB  2RB  RB/WR flex  3WR  TE  WR/TE flex  K  DST    1-0
Jason Campbell, Cedric Benson, Rashard Mendenhall, Matt Forte(rb/wr flex), Greg Jennings, Hines Ward, Mike Williams(sea), Todd Heap, Dwayne Bowe(wr/te flex), Matt Prater, and Chargers

Wannabes - QB 2RB 3WR/TE K DST    1-0
Jay Cutler, Ray Rice, Ryan Mathews, Dwayne Bowe, Hines Ward, Vernon Davis, Matt Prater, and Redskins

Addiction - QB 2RB 3WR TE K DST     1-0
Peyton Manning, Rashard Mendenhall, Tim Hightower, Greg Jennings, Hines Ward, Steve Breaston, Jermichael Finley, Matt Prater, and Chiefs

Scores and opponents lineups on Tuesday.

Bookieman Week 2

Week 2 selections for NCAA are Thursday night NC State -2 vs Cincinnati and on Saturday I like Texas -3 at Texas Tech and Boise State -23.5 at Wyoming.

Survivor pool, these teams must win on Sunday and I can only use them once. I'll take OAKLAND at home against the Rams and GREEN BAY at home against the Bills. In the losers pool I have 3 entries and I am using 2 of the same teams I used last week. I will take the Bills twice and the Rams once.

NFL spreads for week 2, I like KC +1.5 at Cleveland, Bears/Cowboys total over 41, Philadelphia -6 at Detroit, Denver -4 vs. Seattle, Houston -3 at Washington, and Oakland -4 vs. St. Louis

For the purposes of the Pick 6 pool I am using the 5 NFL picks(KC is -2 in that pool) and Texas -3 from my NCAA picks.

For the 5 team parlay pool I have KC +1.5, Denver -3.5, Houston -3, Oakland -3.5, and Philadelphia -6

Record against the spread: 15-10-2

Athlete's Apologies Ring Hollow

As the father of 2 girls and a huge sports fan my common ground with my girls are their favorite athletes, our trips to sporting events, and their own games. I'm fairly certain that they have seen more live sporting events than most kids their age and hope that my love for sports has been transferred to them.

In the past dozen or so years I have seen female opportunities in sports skyrocket. Those chances haven't come without controversy either. The Patriots locker room incident of about 20 years ago was one of the darker incidents but there are others. Does Joe Namath try and plant one on Tony Siragusa if he is the sideline reporter instead of Suzy Kolber? Does Michael David Barrett shoot peephole video of Ed Werder? Does Brett Favre text pictures of his penis to Sal Paolantonio? My guess is No! on all accounts.

I love the fact that these opportunites are available and that my girls will have the chance to pursue a career in that direction if they choose to do so. I also hope that as a parent I will do my job to inform them about some of the less than flattering parts of life. I don't shelter them and I try not to avoid controversial topics when they are presented. Life is not all sunshine and rainbows and I get a kick out of people who try to raise their children as if it were. Eventually they will leave home and be subjected to some of the trash that society harbors, I'd much rather I explain it to them and teach them based on the incident than hide it from them and act like it doesn't exist.

The real point here is brought about because of a recent incident between female reporter Ines Sainz and members of the NY Jets. In my opinion the blame here lies about 80% on the Jets and about 20% on Sainz. Her past work experience has been somewhat less than on the up and up and her attire at times has been less than professional. Does that mean she deserves inappropriate behavior because of it? No not at all. At the same time players who have seen her work in the past may have been expecting a similar type of story Saturday at Jets practice. She can't turn it on and off depending on the day and for the most part she has turned it off in previous assignments. The Jets were still way out of line and should be reprimanded in some form.

Then today on the radio Clinton Portis makes some really ignorant comments but they were most likely the way he felt. The NFL and the Redskins catch wind of what he said and he was immediately apologizing. This angers me almost as much as the sexist crap that still exists in sports as a whole. If Portis said it and truly felt that way why is he apologizing. His apology is hollow, it means nothing. His comments were more sincere than his apology was. The comments, no matter how ignorant you or I think they were were his sentiment or opinion. His apology was something he was told to do. We already know how he feels and its not sorry. People offend way too easy these days and athletes apologize way too much. An athlete's apology is almost as common as a sunrise. Gone are the days of speaking your mind, now everything has to be said so that no one is put off by the words. Its really annoying.

Do you think Tiger Woods is sorry? He's sorry he got caught not sorry for his actions. Do you think the MLB players were sorry for steroids? Again sorry they got caught. If Ben Roethlisberger is sorry for his behavior why has it been alleged to happen multiple times? Because he can just apologize with some BS that he says in front of a camera and all is forgiven. Do you think John Rocker was sorry? No he was a backwoods redneck who really was racist and anti-gay. Was Floyd Mayweather Jr really sorry for his racist remarks towards Pacquiao? Hell no! Somebody told him to apologize or those comments might cost him millions down the road.  Is Reggie Bush sorry for the storm that surrounds him stemming from incidents in 2005? Nope because he got paid, his family got paid, and he is still getting paid. Almost as annoying as these empty apologies are the apologies that come with the promise that with some spiritual guidance or divine intervention these "model" citizens will be better people.

Walks like a duck, talks like a duck, damn good chance its a duck! Come on people! The actions or words of the person is a better indication of who/what the person is than the apology that comes after to squash the storm and appease the masses.

Fantasy Football Week 1 Recap

Overall a pretty good week, 4-1 with one squeaker. Had Rice, Mathews, and Bowe against Jets D and 2 point defecit. I only won by 1 point. My loss came where a win was possible but not sure that I could have made those decisions beforehand. Worse case scenario I took a loss there but gained some confidence in my benched players that they can be starters. Anyhow, here are how the games matched up.

WPM - QB 2 RB 2 WR TE K DST    Lost 91-79
Philip Rivers - 22, Joseph Addai - 6, Cadillac Williams - 9, Ochocinco - 21, Steve Smith(nyg) - 4, Kellen Winslow II - 3, Mason Crosby - 9, and Steelers - 4.
Opponent: Cutler - 26, Ray Rice - 5, Forte - 32, A. Johnson - 3, M. Colston - 6, B. Celek - 3, Bironas - 8, Packers - 8

Sweetness - QB 2RB 2WR TE K DST   Won 97-74
Carson Palmer - 23, Matt Forte - 31, Michael Turner - 4, Miles Austin - 20, Dwayne Bowe - 1, Vernon Davis - 7, Sebas. Janikowski - 7, and Saints - 4
Opponent: D. Anderson - 17, J. Best - 15, R. Rice - 5, R.Wayne - 15, R. White - 11, Z. Miller(oak) - 4, Hartley - 2, Dolphins - 5

FTC - QB  2RB  RB/WR flex  3WR  TE  WR/TE flex  K  DST  Won 254 - 199
Derek Anderson - 32, Cedric Benson - 24, Mo. Jones-Drew - 36, Matt Forte(rb/wr flex) - 57, Greg Jennings - 25, Hines Ward - 23, Mike Williams(sea) - 15, Kellen Winslow II - 13, Todd Heap(wr/te flex) - 21, Matt Prater - 7, and Chargers - 1
Opponent: Kolb - 6, R. Grant - 10, T. Hightower - 31, J. Best - 42, L. Fitzgerald - 17, Sims-Walker - 0, Welker - 39, Gates - 24, Boldin - 26, Hartley - 2, 49ers - 2

Wannabes - QB 2RB 3WR/TE K DST  Won 82 - 81
Jay Cutler - 28, Ray Rice - 5, Ryan Mathews - 7, Dwayne Bowe - 1, Hines Ward - 10, Vernon Davis - 7, Matt Prater - 5, and Giants - 19
Opponent: Palmer - 25, Mendenhall - 18, D. Williams - 6, D. Clark - 13, Garcon - 4, Witten - 2, Hartley - 2, Jets - 11

Addiction - QB 2RB 3WR TE K DST  Won 123.32 - 85.68
Peyton Manning - 35.32, Rashard Mendenhall -19.5, Jahvid Best - 15.6, Greg Jennings - 14.2, Hines Ward - 10.8, Steve Breaston - 13.2, Jermichael Finley - 4.7, Matt Prater - 7 , and 49ers - 3
Opponent: Romo - 17.28, C. Johnson - 27, Addai - 7.3, B. Marshall - 5.3, D. Bryant - 5.6, D. Driver - 9, K.Winslow II - 3.2, Gould - 7, Ravens - 4

Recap Bookieman Week 1

I added 2 bets in the NCAA on Friday night and split them. WVU -13 @ marshall and Over 75 UTEP/Houston. WVU needed OT to win by 3 but 78 points were scored in the late game. 1-1 coupled with 8-5-1 from last weekend makes me 9-6-1 headed into Saturday.

My Saturday NCAA selections were Miami, FL +9 @ tOSU, Cal -9 vs Colorado, and Stanford -6 @ ucla.
Cal & Stanford rolled to easy wins while the Canes were beaten soundly by the Buckeyes. Finish Saturday 2-1. Overall: 11-7-1

Sunday picks were Miami -3, Oak/Ten Over 41, Ten -6, Pit +2, SF -3, Ariz -4, GB/Phil over 48, Dal/Was over 41. Started out HOT! 4-0 in early games. Mia, Oak/Ten over, Ten, and Pit all good. Wheels fell off after that. SF was embarrassed by Seattle, Arizona pushed at St. Louis, GB/Phil came up a point short, and Dal/Was put up tons of yards but the end zones were protected by a force field. Finished 4-3-1.

Overall 15-10-2  new selections Thursday.

My 2 winners, Miami & Arizona won. My 3 losers, Minnesota, Buffalo, and St. Louis all lost. Still alive in both pools.

Fantasy Football Week 1

I have 6 leagues but only 5 are for money so we will stick to those 5 from this point forward. League names and prices are as follows, all are 12 team leagues. Walter Payton Memorial $95, Sweetness League $100, For The Cash $125, Wannabees $200, and Addiction $50. [side note: I have a $100 side bet for best finish with an owner who thinks he is the only person in the world who knows anything about sports.]

I will post opponents lineups during the Tuesday recap since I can't control whether their lineup is set by Friday. Chances are I could end up making last minute changes along the way too but I'll give you my best effort by Friday.

WPM - QB 2 RB 2 WR TE K DST
Philip Rivers, Joseph Addai, Cadillac Williams, Ochocinco, Steve Smith(nyg), Kellen Winslow II, Mason Crosby and Steelers.

Sweetness - QB 2RB 2WR TE K DST
Carson Palmer, Matt Forte, Michael Turner, Miles Austin, Dwayne Bowe, Vernon Davis, Sebas. Janikowski and Saints (4 points last night)

FTC - QB  2RB  RB/WR flex  3WR  TE  WR/TE flex  K  DST
Derek Anderson, Cedric Benson, Mo. Jones-Drew, Matt Forte(rb/wr flex), Greg Jennings, Hines Ward, Mike Williams(sea), Kellen Winslow II, Todd Heap(wr/te flex), Matt Prater, and Chargers

Wannabes - QB 2RB 3WR/TE K DST
Jay Cutler, Ray Rice, Ryan Mathews, Dwayne Bowe, Hines Ward, Vernon Davis, Matt Prater, and Giants

Addiction - QB 2RB 3WR TE K DST
Peyton Manning, Rashard Mendenhall, Jahvid Best, Greg Jennings, Hines Ward, Steve Breaston, Jermichael Finley, Matt Prater, and 49ers

Scoring varies from league to league so I will just use that particular players total for that given league on Tuesday's recap.

Bookieman Returns

OK, I promised my picks each week. I have slacked off on writing this week but was up back to back to back nights til after 4am. Back, hips, and legs are killing me recently and now I have this deep, dry, cough that has made my lungs its personal playground. Been a tough week to be down with so much new life around as the football season begins. More importantly the betting season.

First up my survivor pool. I have 2 entries and I must pick a winner each week but I cant use the same team twice. Factoring in not using the same team twice I am taking MIAMI over buffalo and ARIZONA over St. Louis. I liked the Titans and the Saints too but figured I could use them down the road. Next is the opposite of the survivor pool, I have to pick a team to lose each week. Can use the same team all year if you want. Even with that rule in place only 9 of 94 made it to week 17 last year. If more than one makes it to week 17 you must pick every game and I was one of the 9. I went something like 13-3 or 12-4 in the final week. Won over $900, used half to pay for Cubs tickets, fitting huh, "losers" pool bought losers tickets. I have 3 entries, part of entry goes to a memorial scholarship fund to honor a friend who passed a few years ago. My picks to lose: RAMS, BILLS, VIKINGS. All my eggs in 1(two) basket(s) with Mia/Buf and AZ/STL games. There is a theme keep reading.

NCAA: I haven't looked at many games here but I like Stanford -6 @ ucla. I'll also take Miami, FL +9 @ Ohio State and Cal -9 vs Colorado.

I play in two pools in which you must pick games with the spread. One is a Pick 6 and most weeks you have 100 choices to pick 6 from. That includes all NFL games with sides and o/u and between 18 and 20 NCAA games (sides only). I used Stanford -6 here and also like Miami -3 @ buffalo, Oak/Ten over 41, Arizona -4 @ st. louis, GB/Philly over 48, and Dal/Was over 41.

The other pool is 5 team parlay and only includes Sun/Mon NFL games and only the sides, no totals. For that I like Miami -3, Arizona -4, Tenn -6 vs oakland, SF -3 @ seattle, and Pitt +2 vs atlanta.  I told you those Mia/Buf and Az/Stl games were a theme for week 1.

My fantasy teams will be covered tomorrow then recap the picks on Monday and fantasy on Tuesday

Dabbling in the odds a bit

It's always easier to tell the story after the fact but you'll just have to trust me this one time. Going forward I'll make it a weekly staple to put my picks out before the weekend begins.

College football got underway this past Thursday so I logged in to the old sportsbook account and made a small deposit to get things started. Looking at the Thursday lines I liked Ohio State at home minus 4 TD's, I liked the Golden Gophers on the road -1.5 and I loved the under on the NIU at Iowa State game. Good MAC team returning 11 starters on defense against a bad BCS conf team smelled like under 51 to me. I added the Gamecocks ML (-700) as a small boost and parlayed the selections. Open the season with a WINNER! All 4 selections good and away we go. Stayed up for the late game on ESPN, USC at Hawaii, bet the 2nd half over at 28.5. BAM! 2nd winner of the night.

Small wager on Friday night took Arizona -16 at Toledo but parlayed it with the over (59). Zona wins by a boatload but Toledo can't score so the total stays under. On to Saturday, out until about 11:15am running errands so I missed the early kickoffs. I looked over the entire day and decided I liked LSU -9 vs UNC, Wisconsin -20 at UNLV and Fresno St -3 at home vs Cincinnati. 1 win, Fresno State, 1 Push, Wisconsin, and 1 Loss, LSU. I had it parlayed so it was only bet lost. After watching the 1st halves of the Michigan and Notre Dame games I made a 2nd half line wager on those two games, Michigan pk em, ND -4. 1 win, Michigan, and 1 loss, Notre Dame.

No betting weekend would be complete without a story of a bad beat so here's mine. I liked the under(50) in the Oregon State vs TCU game. Neutral site but in Texas, TCU built their reputation last season on playing defense. Felt good! 35 points scored in the 1st half. All good feelings gone but having done this before knew that there was a chance this game stalls in the 2nd half and I still have a chance. Bingo! TD early in the 3rd and a 2nd TD to end the 3rd. TCU is up 7 and plays 'D' in the 4th. About 8:30 to go OSU and TCU have exchanged punts and TCU has a long field. Grind it to midfield, stall and punt. More importantly knock over 4 minutes off the clock.

Oregon State fair catch at their own 18 and 4:18 on the clock. 49 total points, if TCU can force a punt they will kill the clock and I'll win the under(50) even after a 35 point first half. Commercial break after the punt, I jump over to the Fresno State/Cincinnati game. Flip back just in time to see the OSU QB chasing the ball towards the end zone and kick it out the back. Safety! 2 points TCU. Total 51, game over! Wager lost.

The first play from scrimmage, in shotgun formation, the ball was snapped over the QB's head and he chased it and kicked it through the end zone rather than attempt to fall on it and take the loss of yards!!

I did hit a small play on Fresno State by themselves and  finished the weekend with 3 of 7 bets as winners and 8-4-1 on the individual selections. Most important, account balance is 4x's the initial deposit. I like the Hokies Monday night.

The "other" two teams

The final two teams have been drafted. I'll start with the slow draft because this is the only time that type of draft and this one in particular will ever be first at anything.

This nightmare started on 8/21 and is a hybrid league of sorts. Its a PPR league where 3 pts are awarded for receptions but RB also get 1 pt for a rush and QB's get a point for completions. Its also a 3 player keeper league. It was a snake draft, I picked 11th(last year's runner up). 16 rounds. I had no 2nd round pick, no 6th, and  no 7th. I had two 9's, two 14's, and 2 15's to make my draft even out. Starting lineup QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, RB/WR, TE, WR/TE, K, DST

My keepers: Maurice Jones-Drew - JAX, Cedric Benson - CIN, Greg Jennings - GB Draft picks in order: Matt Forte - CHI, Hines Ward - PIT, Cadillac Williams - TB, Kellen Winslow, Jr - TB, Donovan McNabb - WAS, Donnie Avery - STL(drafted the morning before he got hurt), Kevin Walter - HOU, Greg Olsen - CHI, Legedu Naanee - SD, Jason Campbell - OAK, Mike Williams - SEA, Todd Heap - BAL, Rashad Jennings - JAX, Josh Morgan - SF, Matt Prater - DEN, San Diego - DST

This nightmare still isn't over but it has lasted 13 days and the sloth of the draft has logged over 62 hours of down time while he was on the clock. My draft time, 59 min 10 sec. Less than an hour on the clock for the entire mess. I hate this format and would suggest jumping from a tall building before getting involved in this type of frustration.

5th and final money league for 2010, yahoo league with a live draft and a 90 second clock. These things go so fast its hard to keep up. We finished in 90 minutes. 15 rounds, re-draft, all TD's worth 6 pts, QB yds 1 pt for every 25 yds RB/WR/TE 1 pt for every 10 yds. Starting lineup QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, K, DST. I picked 10th in a snake draft.

Draft: Peyton Manning - IND, Rashad Mendenhall - PIT, Greg Jennings - GB, Jahvid Best - DET, Hines Ward - PIT, Jermichael Finley - GB, Steve Breaston - ARI, 49ers DST,(let it be known, my internet went down here and I got stuck with a DST no way I take one here, wanted bernard berrian) Marion Barber - DAL, Louis Murphy - OAK, Tim Hightower - ARI, Laurent Robinson - STL, Todd Heap - BAL, Mike Williams - SEA, Matt Prater - DEN

I only have 1 QB but its Peyton Manning his bye week is 7, I'll pick one up for that week.

NCAA Football Kickoff Weekend

It's baaaaaaack! Thursday night marks the beginning of another wonderful college football season. There are only two things wrong with that, still no playoff system in place and Jim Tressel still has a job. How is it that tOSU has managed to escape any kind of serious sanctions? Tressel ran a dirty program at Youngstown State and it has carried over to tOSU all the way back to the Maurice Clarrett days.

Hopefully the offseason conference realignment that took place will apply more pressure for the NCAA to adopt some form of playoff system to determine a National Champion in football. I think 3 of the bigger stories in college football will be in the SEC. Can Alabama repeat? What will the Gators and Urban Meyer do w/o Tebow? Can LSU be better than a 3 or 4 loss team?

Two other big stories will be Can RichRod get Michigan back on track or does another coaching search begin in Ann Arbor? and Who wins the Pac 10 now that USC has been punished for cheating? Other questions that will get answered, Is this JoePa's final year? Will Florida State return to glory without Bobby Bowden? Is Nebraska really back? Can new coaches win at Kansas and Texas Tech?  Is it Wisconsin's time to shine in the Big 10? Is this really the best team that Northern Illinois has ever had?(threw that in to see who was paying attention) Coach Jerry Kill says this is his best team in his short time at NIU but could it be that they are the best NIU team ever? I was there for 4 years I think they won 4 games.

For me there is only one question about NCAA football that even matters, Can Brian Kelly return the Irish to prominence?  I have been a Notre Dame fan for as long as I can remember and my memories began with the Lou Holtz era. I cheered on the '88 title team I watched as they were screwed out of the '93 title, I saw Lou get run out of town because he was threatening the all time wins record for a ND head coach(politics). I watched the parade of bad coaches(and liars) starring Bob Davie, George O'Leary, Tyrone Willingham, and Charlie Weis. I really thought Charlie was the answer. Now its Brian Kelly's turn. I wasn't a huge fan of the hire but all the news about the program has been positive and hopefully the tarnish has been polished from the golden dome.

The first half of the 2010 schedule should be an indication of how far Coach Kelly and the Irish have come or how much work still needs to be done. The second half of the schedule should be a big confidence boost for the program going forward. I am expecting no worse than 9-3 from the 2010 Irish and hoping big things are on the horizon.  The Irish open at home with Purdue on Saturday.

The season kicks off Thursday night with an ESPN doubleheader and the NIU Huskies traveling to Iowa State which is on TV in Chicagoland on CSN.  It's finally football season!