Bookieman Week 12

monday's ncaa hoops were 1-2 making overall record 3-4

Lines came from vegasinsider.com as of 12:30 ct on Thursday

NCAA football: Texas A&M -4 at Texas, Arkansas -3 vs LSU, Oklahoma St -2.5 vs Oklahoma

NFL: Dallas/NO over 50, Cincy/NYJ Under 43, Oakland -3, Chicago +3.5, Pittsburgh -6.5, Arizona Pk em

Overall Record: 55-40-7

College Hoops picks for Monday

I'll take Uconn -2.5 vs Wichita State, Xavier +2.5 vs Old Dominion, K-State/Gonzaga over 148.5

Hoops record: 2-2

Bookieman Week 11 recap

NCAA Football:

NIU Huskies -14 at Ball St, Iowa +4 vs Ohio State, Oklahoma -7 at Baylor.   3-0

NFL Football:

Under 44 Wash at Tenn, Over 44 GB at Minn, Jacksonville -2.5 vs Cleveland, Under 44 Seattle at New Orleans, Atlanta -3 at St. Louis   3-2

Overall record: 55-40-7


Here are the first 4 wagers of the hoops season. A unit is $11 and I will refer to individual wagers in units.

2 units on Davidson/Nebraska 2nd half over 71 - W
Parlay wager Illini -4.5 vs Maryland - L, Xavier -6 vs Iowa - W, W.Ky -6.5 vs Hofstra- L


record: 2-2


Maui starts on Monday and I'll have some more hoops selections.

WTF is going on here?

A year ago I was on record that I was not a BK guy. Then the off season was filled with positive press and how he was doing the right thing. It kinda started to win me over. Still worried how the change in offensive philosophy would work and would they play D or just get in a shootout in every game.

Silly me worrying about football stuff. The season starts with football players being charged with underage drinking, team gets beat in creative ways against Michigan and Michigan State, then they can't beat Navy.

The fireable offense is making Declan Sullivan climb into a scissor lift and go 50 ft in the air when winds are gusting 50mph. Football wins and losses go out the window when the coach is ultimately responsible for the death of a student affiliated with his team. The coach and the university remain quiet.

They go out and lose to Tulsa and fall to 4-5, season seems lost. They take a week off and beat a ranked opponent in Utah and then beat Army to gain bowl eligibility. Defense gives up just 3 points in back to back weeks. The death of Sullivan is still a story but its going on behind the scenes and kudos goes to the family for keeping the matter as private as possible. The team appears headed in right direction.

Hang on!! News that a female student from St.Mary's college committed suicide 9 days after reporting to ND Campus Police that she was sexually assaulted by a ND football player surfaces. Now, this case is missing facts, no name of the player, the assault is alleged and the victim claims no "penetration", the student was already battling depression issues, the ND police didn't report anything or share anything with proper authorities investigating her death. Until all the facts are shared I won't pin this one on BK too but its getting harder and harder to believe he is the right guy for the job if it is going to continue to tarnish the reputation of the University. In the past, the football team did the tarnish thing but it was ON THE FIELD now its becoming a problem in society as well. Just not acceptable.

Bookieman Week 11

NCAA Football:

NIU Huskies -14 at Ball St, Huskies on their way to a MAC West Title and a spot in MAC Championship game.  Iowa +4 vs Ohio State, this is as much about my dislike of tOSU as it is anything else. Violates the first rule of gambling about betting heart over head. Oklahoma -7 at Baylor.

NFL Football:

Under 44 Wash at Tenn, Over 44 GB at Minn, Jacksonville -2.5 vs Cleveland, Under 44 Seattle at New Orleans, Atlanta -3 at St. Louis

Overall record: 49-38-7

Now we can't forget the fact that college basketball is underway and I will have a separate Bookieman picks post for hoops.

Here are the first 4 wagers of the hoops season. A unit is $11 and I will refer to individual wagers in units.

2 units on Davidson/Nebraska 2nd half over 71
Parlay wager Illini -4.5 vs Maryland, Xavier -6 vs Iowa, W.Ky -6.5 vs Hofstra

Bear Down!!

The good news? The Bears are 7-3 and have 10 days to prepare for the Eagles. The bad news? The current combined record of the Bears remaining opponents is 31 - 23 and that includes Minnesota and Detroit at (5-13) Philly and GB are both 6-3, NE and the Jets are both 7-2.

The Bears played OK tonight, ran for about 130 yds, threw for enough to keep Miami honest but need to improve on scoring TD's instead of FG's. Highlight was when Danieal Manning lit up Davon Bess with a textbook hit late in the game. (still shot above)

The O-line has been better but still not completely fixed. Cutler was sacked 3 times and fumbled on one of them, and he threw a pick after back-peddaling away from a collapsing pocket. JaMarcus Webb got called for 3 holding penalties and at times there were no holes to run through.

When you look ahead to the last 6 weeks you really can't help but look back at the back to back home losses to Seattle and Washington and say WTF? There is still work to be done, even if  the Vikings and Lions pack it in and the Bears get 2 wins that is only 9(5-0 in division) and they will most likely need 10 to make the playoffs so they must beat at least one of Philly, NE, NYJ, and GB. Those first 3 teams all come to Chicago. Nothing is locked up yet, still plenty of work to be done

Illini v. Texas in Hoops

I just watched this game on dvr after watching the Bears dominate the fins in Miami. Good win for the Bears. Still have Philly, NE, Jets, and GB on sked as well as at detroit and at minnesota. They had to win tonight and they did.

First time this year I could watch the Illini, first off, Jereme Richmond is damn good! As for the team they still look lost on offense. The passing does not lead to an open guy or an open shot and they are forced to settle for long range jumpers. Some possessions they choose to jack up 3's without getting into the offense. Bruce still has work to do.

That first half was solidly entertaining and if that was a preview of the Big Ten or the season as a whole it is going to be a fun year watching college hoops.

25 hr hoops marathon

The unofficial kickoff to the best "amateur" sport on the planet. ESPN's 25 hour hoops marathon begins at midnight et following MNF. The rundown of games can be found here
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5809267

If you can't catch all the games, here are some of the highlights of the series. The first game, Miami at Memphis features 2nd year coach Josh Pastner trying to get the tigers back to the top of Conf USA after their run as champs ended last season. The 2nd game is for the 30 somethings who remember the days of Steve Lavin at UCLA, he's back and leading St. John's as the go out west to play WCC front runners St. Mary's.

A noon et mid major battle between Oral Roberts and Tulsa is the first must see game on Tuesday. The appetizer for the 3 course meal Tuesday evening is the 4pm et tilt between ranked teams, #24 Va Tech vs. #3 Kansas State, followed by the main course #5 Ohio State vs #10 Florida and then topped off with dessert. Last year's runner up #18 Butler travels to Louisville to face "Quicky Ricky's" squad.

This is a warm up for the pre-season NIT and the Maui Invitational and should be enough to welcome the casual fan to the 2010-11 season. This is just the opening mile to the "marathon" that is college basketball that culminates with the final sprint that is the revamped 68 team tourney in mid March.

Ryno back to where it began

He didn't get the Cubs managerial job and as I have stated here before I am OK with that. The Cubs are not in good shape on the major league level and Ryno would have been yet another failed manager. His reputation tarnished within the structure of the organization.

The rumors of him being considered for other MLB openings never materialized but he felt like he was screwed over by Jim Hendry and didn't want to go back to Iowa as the AAA manager. Now comes news that he is headed back to where his MLB career started, the Phillies organization. He still doesn't have a big league job, he is the AAA manager for the Phils but its still a better place for him then on the bench in Chicago.

I wish him all the success and hope that he doesn't get scooped up before the Cubs can get through the Quade years quickly and then the new GM, Hendry will go when Quade goes, can build a winner with Ryno at the helm.

Bookieman Wk 10 recap

Sorry, with all the traveling the last 10 days I haven't updated much.

I went 3-3 in picks this weekend, NFL only. Never even looked at college picks.

Overall Record: 52-41-7

Bookieman Week 9 & Fantasy Week 9 Recap

NCAA: Michigan -4 vs Illinois - L, Nevada -13 vs Idaho - W, Stanford -10 vs Arizona - W

NFL: Houston +3 vs San Diego - L, New Orleans -7 at Carolina - W, Indianapolis +3 at Philly - W, Green Bay -8 vs Dallas - W

Weekly 5-2
Overall record: 49-38-7

Fantasy teams went 5-0 for the first time all year.
WPM: 5-4
Sweetness: 6-3
Wannabe's: 5-4
For the Cash: 4-5
Addiction: 4-5

Bookieman Week 9

Selections for week 9

NCAA: Michigan -4 vs Illinois, Nevada -13 vs Idaho, Stanford -10 vs Arizona

NFL: Houston +3 vs San Diego, New Orleans -7 at Carolina, Indianapolis +3 at Philly, Green Bay -8 vs Dallas


Overall Record: 44-36-7

Fantasy Football Week 8 Recap

Sorry the week has flown by and I am traveling tomorrow, last week's recap is in generic form.

WPM - QB 2 RB 2 WR TE K DST   4-3 Lost 47-52
Philip Rivers, Steven Jackson, Ronnie Brown, Chad Ochocinco, Kenny Britt, Zach Miller(oak), Matt Prater and Steelers.

Sweetness - QB 2RB 2WR TE K DST    4-3  Won 86-78
Kyle Orton, Derrick Ward, Cadillac Williams, Dwayne Bowe, Brandon Lloyd, Vernon Davis, S. Janikowski and Lions

FTC - QB  2RB  RB/WR flex  3WR  TE  WR/TE flex  K  DST    3-4  Lost 179-251
Donovan McNabb, Cadillac Williams, Rashard Mendenhall, Dwayne Bowe(wr), Greg Jennings, Hines Ward, Cedric Benson (rb/wr flex), Kellen Winslow, Jabar Gaffney(wr/te flex), Jeff Reed, and Patriots

Wannabes - QB 2RB 3WR/TE K DST    4-3  Lost 68-105
Jay Cutler, Ryan Torain, Darren McFadden, Dwayne Bowe, Hines Ward, Andre Johnson, Matt Prater, and Chiefs

Addiction - QB 2RB 3WR TE K DST     3-4  Lost 66.82- 97.74
Peyton Manning, Jahvid Best, Felix Jones, Greg Jennings, Reggie Wayne, Jabar Gaffney, Heath Miller, Jeff Reed, and Seahawks

Bookieman Week 8 Recap

NCAA: Miami, FL -14.5 at Virginia - L, Iowa -6.5 vs Michigan State - W, Oregon St -3 vs Cal - W, TCU -35 at UNLV - W

NFL: New England -5 vs Minnesota - W, Oakland -2.5 vs Seattle - W, Denver +2 vs San Francisco - L, Wash/Det Over 44.5 - W, Hou/Indy Over 50 - L

If I had to pick in a Survivor pool this weekend I'd feel best about New England < That was a winner!


weekly record: 6-3
Overall record: 44-36-7