Travellinbaen

Entries tagged as ‘betting’

Thursday Pickin IX, (mid-season twist edition)

October 22, 2008 · 37 Comments

Quote of the Day     “Games lubricate the body and mind.”     –Ben Franklin

As I try to extend the reach of this humble blog, the last thing I want to do is win the Thursday Pickin Grand Exalted Prize and thusly diminish the credibility of the editor. But just past the halfway point in the season, TB finds himself on top of the heap. Would one of you please get hot and pass me? 

The title of this week’s pick’em post references a mid-season twist, and I’m sure you are all dying to find out what it is. Will TB reverse the field like they do at the Nascar All-Star race? Is there to be a playoff, dance-off, or smack-off? Is (are?) a new crop of eligible young pickers going to be introduced mid-season to challenge the tired old pickers? Unfortunately……no.

But from now on, the bonus points for tunes will be awarded by you. Starting Saturday and going through Monday, comment below the picks on your choice for song of the week, list of the week and theme of the week. I’ll award the bonus points as you dictate.

Here’s how it went down last week, with POTW winners comprising the top 6, bonus picks in parentheses:

  1. TB (4-1)
  2. SC (3-1)
  3. Face (2-1)
  4. Pitalo (3-2) and cheesiest song of the week
  5. Larry (1-3)
  6. Zeek (1-4)
  7. JLM 1-1 in POTW’s and 16-9 overall; TB is very forgivin of drunken posting, but I will not look fondly upon another 29 pick post. That having been said, 17-9 overall ain’t too shabby.
  8. Feidt’s Follies 1-1 in POTW’s (3-2) and a permanent bonus for having at least two of us living vicariously through him.
  9. Sweet 1-1 in POTW’s (2-4) with a system of picks last week.
  10. OB lost the POTW along with the remainder of the list, not counting the no-shows. (4-1)
  11. Ed–Song of the Week winner
  12. Adam (2-1)
  13. Smily (2-2); honorable mention nudity theme
  14. Fig (3-2); tri-winner of list of the week in a three way tie. I had sympathy for the POTW losers.
  15. RSR; another tri-winner of the list of the week
  16. RMac; final list of the week tri-winner and theme of the week champ
  17. Actually 17-20, 10 points each to MD, BR, TKH and Greeg, all missing in action. Was it something I said?
Overall standings:
  1. TB  239
  2. RMac  227
  3. Fig  224
  4. Feidt’s Follies  219
  5. Rock Star Rambler  206
  6. Supercynic  201
  7. Pitalo  197
  8. OB  196
  9. Adam  179
  10. Ed  176
  11. Larry  172
  12. Sweet  167
  13. Smily  160
  14. Face  153
  15. JLM  142
  16. MD  138
  17. Zeek  132
  18. Greeg  113
  19. BR  110
  20. TKH  92
My picks
  • Georgia  +2
  • Oklahoma -19
  • West Virginia  -3′
  • Penn St  -2′
  • Notre Dame  -10′
POTW
  • USC  -15
My tunes
  • Come Monday–Jimmy Buffett
  • Streets of Bakersfield–Dwight Yoakum
  • Little Old Lady from Pasadena–The Beach Boys
  • Folsom Prison Blues–Johnny Cash
  • Song of the Week–Beverly Hills–Weezer (dedicated to J. Gurrieri, who checks in every once in awhile) 

Categories: Music · Sports
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Thursday Pickin VIII

October 15, 2008 · 21 Comments

Quote of the Day     “Turn out the lights; the party’s over; they say that all; good things must end; call it a night; the pa-arty’s o-ver; and tomorrow starts; the whole thing, over, again.”     –as crooned every Monday by Dandy Don Merideth, back during the Golden Age of Sports

RMac finally missed a beat last week, going with Oklahoma, so there may be a new name atop the leaderboard. We’ll see. Here are last week’s results, all POTW winners until noted otherwise:

  1. Pitalo went 5-0 in addition to his POTW. It’s going to be really embarrassing if he wins after missing the first couple of weeks of the season. But beware Pitalo, Sweet did in RMac, he’ll come after you if you have any more weeks like the last one.
  2. Smily learned how to play and did it well last week. Though only 3-3 on bonus picks, he got a close decision over Adam on bonus points for getting “Ain’t No Fun Waitin to Be a Millionaire” stuck in my head. The missing “g” didn’t hurt either, but “Seven Spanish Angels” put him over the top.
  3. Adam went 2-1 with a “dog” playlist I really liked, but Smily struck a chord (blank stare) so its bronze for Stone.
  4. Larry 2-2, love the Sex and Candy, but you might’ve gotten more for that at Halloween.
  5. RSR all in and a winner, with the usual hip list, but with the RSR/Ed handicap was dropped to a still impressive 5th.
  6. Supercynic, 2-3, with the fictional line of the week. Nobody can beat Feidt’s Follies for real life humor.
  7. OB at 1-4 saved face, and edged Face with his class of 88 songlist.
  8. Face was 0-2, but picked a nice standard, as performed by the original Stranger.
  9. Zeek, with OB and Face, illustrated the inherent injustice in this game. His POTW kept him above everyone else, but his 1-4 bonus was ugly.
  10. Sweet went 1-1 on POTW, 1-2 on regular games and 1-0 on jinxing RMac. TB was offended by the double POTW, but elected not to penalize for it.
  11. TB and everyone else lost the POTW, but TB went 4-0-1 in the bonus picks.
  12. Fig went 4-1 and gets SOTW for Mickey Gilley’s “The Girl’s All Get Prettier at Closin Time”. 
  13. TKH had perhaps his best week ever, going 3-2, and reminiscing about his old Mississippi home.
  14. MD limped in at 1-2, but got to ride the “Teacups” all week, so he doesn’t care.
  15. Feidt’s Follies went 1-4, then dropped a sweet parley on us before giving back a bit on parley number 2. Enjoyed the late afternoon catchup posts, but didn’t score them either way. I did award points for the preview of his date with an Amish chick. 
  16. Greeg/Screwtape showed his softer side, and it almost made me fail to notice he went 1-5. Go D-Rays.
  17. JLM was 1-3, but since she, Smily and SC were the only people to appear on the blog this week, I gave her (and them) a little juice.
  18. BR was next, 0-3, and a blank stare for his tune.
  19. Ed, all in again, lost. But I really want a new hot rod.
  20. RMac. Oklahoma, oh no. A good thing too, there aren’t many other “Rosie” songs out there. 
The Overall Standings
  1. RMac  202
  2. Fig  196
  3. TB   189
  4. Feidt’s Follies  183
  5. Rock Star Rambler  179
  6. OB  161
  7. Supercynic  156
  8. Adam  150
  9. Pitalo  145
  10. Ed  144
  11. Larry  133
  12. Sweet  132
  13. Smily  130
  14. MD  128
  15. Face  110
  16. JLM  105
  17. Screwtape  103
  18. BR  100
  19. Zeek  94
  20. TKH  92
TB’s Picks this week
  • Ole Miss  +13
  • Ohio State  -4
  • Michigan  +23
  • LSU  -3
  • TX Tech  -20
POTW–Vandy  +15
My Tunes, suitable for a road trip to Nashville
  • Steal My Kisses–Ben Harper
  • Euro Trash Girl–Cracker
  • Anywhere But Here–Cross Canadian Ragweed
  • Road to Nowhere–Talking Heads
  • Nashville (there ain’t nothin wrong with it)–Todd Snider
As always, new players are welcome–you’re still eligible for our weekly prizes, just the same as our regulars, even though the overall grand prize is out of reach.

Categories: Sports
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Thursday Pickin VII

October 8, 2008 · 40 Comments

Quote of the Day     “Play it now. Play it now. Play it now, my baby. Cracklin Rosie, make me smile.”     –Neil Diamond

You all know by now that Travellinbaen’s scoring system is arbitrary, by design. But if you know TB at all, you also know that it is anything but capricious. Bonus points and demerits are and will remain subjective and inconsistent. But at its heart, this is a “pick of the week” game, and RMac is leading the pack like Secretariat led the nags at Belmont. 5-0, all or nothing each week, and she keeps winning. What is this system? Does anyone believe RMac’s protestations of luck? Can it work with the stock market?

Here’s how it broke down with everybody else:

First, everybody gets some bonus for their tunes, and everybody is making it harder to pick some out of the pack for special notice. There’s not time to give them all a shout, but keep them coming. There were only seven POTW’s on target this week. Second place is sure to gin some controversy. I edged Pitalo over Supercynic by one point because I don’t know him. They both went 4-1. Face came next even though he was 3-0 on the bonus picks. TB does not like looking up the lines and deducted points from Face and Smily (though not RMac or JLM) for having to do just that. I even sent a link to Sheridan for christsakes. RSR was next with the usual all or nothing selection, a good call on the last game of the weekend and a second place songlist. I put Feidt next over Mad Dog, for spite, and Fig rounded out the POTW winners, missing big on his Talladega bonus selection.

Stone and Smily went 3-0 and 3-2, but did not designate a POTW. Stone got honorable mention for song of the week, which went to Screwtape, who appeared a day late with some pro picks, a bit of intramural trash talk, and the song of the week–Spill the Wine.

Then came the long line of losers, led by Larry. He got the nod in spite of a 1-3 bonus slate due to the first letter of his name and the playlist of the week. TB was next at 4-1, then TKH 3-2, OB  2-2 and JLM 2-3. Extra points for saucy innuendo in JLM’s song titles. Next was Ed, who went all in and is unfairly penalized for setting a very high music standard–he can’t win every week on tunage. (Same goes for our other music guru RSR). There was an unprecedented three-way tie for last between BR at 0-3, Zeek 0-5, and Sweet 2-4, 0-1 on teaser of the week, and an ill advised and premature withdrawal of a winner. Zeek got a bonus for having a bad week on and off the blog, BR for another week with the strangest song, and Sweet took deductions for, well, no reason. 

TB still hasn’t looked up Face’s song from last week, but when I do, I may or may not add bonus points depending on if the tune lives up to the name of the band–Big Sam’s Funky Nation.

The updated standings:

  1. RMac  192
  2. Fig  172
  3. TB  164
  4. Feidt’s Follies  163
  5. Rock Star  137
  6. Ed  132
  7. OB  121
  8. Supercynic  115
  9. Mad Dog  107
  10. Stone  106
  11. Sweet  97
  12. Pitalo  95
  13. Larry  90
  14. JLM  88
  15. Screwtape  85
  16. BR  85
  17. Smily  84
  18. Face  71
  19. TKH  69
  20. Zeek  56
TB’s Picks
  • Michigan State -2
  • Purdue  +18′
  • Arkansas  +19
  • Minnesota  +12
  • Tennessee  +12
POTW–Kentucky E
My Tunes, Long distance dedications this week
  • When You’re Hot, You’re Hot (when you’re not, you’re not)–Jerry Reed, to Zeek
  • Orange Crush–REM, to BR
  • Devil Inside–INXS, for Greeg/Screwtape
  • Don’t Cry–Guns and Roses, to everybody who doesn’t like their score
  • Dumas Walker’s–Kentucky Headhunters, to all the ARB’s and the girls who dig em
As always, anyone’s welcome to join in for next week, the regulars or passers by. As someone likes to say these days, “I’ll make you famous.”

Categories: Music · Sports
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Thursday Pickin Round Six

October 1, 2008 · 47 Comments

Quote of the Day     “Wanna tell you a story, ‘Bout a woman I know, When it comes to Thursday pickin, She steals the show”     –AC/DC Whole Lotta Rosie, except for a couple of words I changed

Four and oh. Four in a row. The upset, alma mater pick of the week. Original musical tastes, and coincidentally the namesake of a song on two playlists last week. Hats’ off to RMac, last week’s winner of the pick’em challenge. And Ed, only such a week, and streak, by RMac could’ve kept you from ascending to the mountaintop. The depth of understanding you displayed on the deep and abiding meaning and purpose of this game is almost frightening. Ed, RMac, and all confirmed Rebel fans got a bonus point this week due to their team’s great, sickening victory in the swamp. RMac and Ed were correct on their all or nothing POTW’s last week, for the record.

The rest of us were also runs, led by the remaining correct pickers of the week. BR took 3rd with a 2-1 bonus pick record and strange collection of songs with Pitalo right on his heels. Larry edged past Stone with a 1-3 mark because his Entourage collection barely beat Rush, but mainly because he picked his Rebels with flair and elan. They both got the Rebel fan bonus, which vaulted them past OB at 2-3. But for the Rebel win, OB’s tunes and preview of this week’s would’ve moved him up a couple of notches. Smily and MD almost tied at 1-2 and 1-3, respectively, but I gave Smily the nod by a point because he made a particularly insightful comment (yes, I know) on the “End of Cool” post. Everybody else lost their POTW.

Feidt’s Follies was the first loser and also went 3-2. He got a small bonus because it appeared he was either drunk before noon on Saturday or just rolling in from Friday, I wasn’t certain. TB at 3-2 was next. I would’ve put Greeg (2-2) ahead of me based on a bonus for letting the satanic side of his persona shine through, but he didn’t acknowledge TB’s traditional greeting in the comments, so the points were withdrawn. RSR came next, mainly due to eschewing the bonus picks and giving us “Devil’s Haircut”, apt upon the appearance of our blog’s own Screwtape. JLM was 2-2, with a 70′s montage. Then it got ugly.

SC was the biggest ugly, going 1-4, with his Rebel bonus and a bonus for a song that left off the “g”. Zeek next thanks to his Rebel points. He lost points for whining but gained them back with his tunes and prison humor. Let’s just remember, as Fig once said, “this ain’t the Greene County Rec Room.” That long ago quote along with AC/DC edged Fig past TKH, who is performing in an Oriolesque fashion so far and was also 1-4. Face (0-2, meaningless, but correct Brewers bonus) beat Sweet, a pathetic 1-6 with some sloppy, but understandable ranting in the comments.

The updated standings:

  1. TB  145
  2. RMac  142
  3. Fig  137
  4. Feidt’s Follies  125
  5. Ed  117
  6. OB  104
  7. RSR  97
  8. Sweet  85
  9. Stone  76
  10. BR  73
  11. JLM  72
  12. SC  71
  13. Larry  70
  14. MD  70
  15. Greeg/Screwtape  60
  16. Smily  55
  17. TKH  51
  18. Pitalo  50
  19. Zeek  44
  20. Face  29 (but Tulane’s goin to a bowl)
My picks
  • Penn St  -13
  • Florida  -24′
  • Kentucky  +16′
  • Navy  +5
  • Ohio St  -1
POTW
  • Auburn  -4′
My tunes, dedicated to the Rebels, may the Sports Illustrated cover jinx bite you in the ass
  • Good–Better Than Ezra
  • Hard to Handle–The Black Crowes
  • Knock Em Dead Kid–The Crue
  • Beautiful Day–U2
  • Eye of the Tiger–Survivor, just edged out YMCA, the Village People 
As always, new contestants are welcome, old friends or passers by. And OB, you reference Rebels sometimes. If you should’ve gotten the fan bonus let me know and I’ll tack it on next week.

Categories: Sports
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Thursday Pickin Round V

September 25, 2008 · 59 Comments

Quote of the Day       “Most loathsome events become humorous tales with the passage of time.”     –Jimmy Buffett, from “Tales From Margaritaville”

TB is off to a really good start on his picks this year. Unfortunately, my Mississippi State Bulldogs are, once again, so bad I cannot enjoy the season. 38-7 last week against Georgia Tech. Ouch. My playlist, below, will reflect the mood those damn dawgs have put me in.

On to the weekly winner……It came down to Feidt’s Follies and Sweet, both 3-0 with good picks of the week. Both are on a POTW winning streak, thus accumulating equal bonus points. But Feidt weighed in with the two funniest lines of the week so he gets the 50 points plus a little extra for the wit. Third place was a tie between RMac, now 3 for 3 on her all or nothing POTW and some non-TB genre tunes and Greeg at 5-1/POTW plus awesomely weird musical submissions. As much as I hate to put him this high, Stone was next, going a straightforward 1-0/1-0 with bonus points for correctly picking against his Rebels. OB bounced back from Ike with a nice 3-1/1-0 week and Ryder Cup concurrence. Zeek picked up Ryder Cup bonus points and went 3-2/1-0 and a nice playlist. TB turned in a solid week, going 3-2/1-0 and a bonus for 3 POTW’s in a row. TKH was next at 3-2/1-0, then MD with a tepid 1-2/1-0 mark, the last correct POTW. Had he been in a tie, I was prepared to award bonus points for sparing us his unsophisticated musical tastes. BR was the number one loser, 2-1/0-1 by virtue of his Market Street reference. JLM and Face tied at 3-2/0-1 and 2-1/0-1, respectively with both blowing a chance to break the tie with deductions for JLM’s Mickelson/TB comment and Face’s Al Queda loving Ryder Cup pick. Smily limped in at 2-1/0-1, but dropped off some nice tunes. RSR went all in and missed the POTW, but got a bonus for a great playlist hearkening back to the Concerts post and the shout-outs to other Travellinbaen posters. Fig is clinging to his perch at the top of this game with a 2-3/0-1, though he gave us another solid list. Pitalo went 2-3/0-1, Larry went 1-3/0-1 with a bonus deduction for losing a pick on his favorite team. But I restored the point after listening to his tunes. Ed went all in and lost, and though he got a shout from JLM on his song, he knew it was not his best effort. Something about having to “work”. Inexplicably, or maybe explicably, SC was MIA and picked up a goose egg.

The updated standings:

  1. Fig–125
  2. TB–123
  3. Feidt’s Follies–100
  4. RMac–92
  5. RSR–79
  6. Sweet–75
  7. OB–72
  8. Ed–58
  9. SC–56
  10. JLM–55
  11. Stone–43
  12. MD–40
  13. Greeg–40
  14. TKH–38
  15. Larry–35
  16. BR–33
  17. Zeek–30
  18. Smily–24
  19. Face–18
  20. Pitalo–12
TB’s Picks
  • Navy +16′
  • NC State  +9
  • Bama  +7
  • Auburn  -6′
  • Notre Dame  -1
Pick of the Week
*Disclaimer–if I was willing to bet against my own team, LSU -23 would look pretty good, but I’m not.*
  • Pitt  -15′
The depression playlist, consistent with the times themselves, and Mississippi State football, all the time
  • Sunday Morning Comin Down–Johnny Cash
  • The Thrill is Gone–BB King
  • Personality Crisis–New York Dolls
  • London Homesick Blues–Jerry Jeff Walker
  • Northern Sky–Nick Drake, a mellow light at the end of the tunnel
As always, newcomers are welcome to join.

Categories: Sports
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Thursday Pickin Round IV

September 17, 2008 · 49 Comments

Quote of the Day     “Horse sense is the thing a horse has that keeps it from betting on people.”     –W.C. Fields

Welcome to the Premier Pick’em Game on the Worldwide Web.

You may be asking yourself, “why should I participate in this silly pick’em game?” My answer: you don’t really have anything better to do, right? Actually, there is also the pride of a wild guess made good, the ability to see your success published internationally and read by literally several people, and the potential for some mystery reward. TB has a couple of ideas. You can be certain the reward will have little to no intrinsic value, much like the American dollar. And if you were paying attention to the playlists last week, you got some real gems to add to your collection, be it on the ipod or cassette tape. Many of you collected on the music bonus last week, but the tune of the week had to go to Ed for his back story, linked live performance, appropriateness, and quality. All the others were so close that no tiebreakers were needed, though special thanks go out to Larry for contributing two new songs to my library. I hope ya’ll are enjoying the music sharing as much as I am, from the current to the oldies to the sublime and the ridiculous.

Here’s how it went down last week. Gripe if you want, but I’m awarding TB the first place 50 points for picking USM correctly as POTW, going 3-1-1 on the bonus picks, and choosing songs I definitely like. I took a tie on Georgia’s victory, even though the line went down before game time and I would’ve won (and did elsewhere) with that extra half point shaved off. I credited those of you who took the same game with the line as it stood when you made the pick. Two weeks in a row, TB’s on a roll. Rock Star was second with a very close NC State victory and an appropriately timed and rockin atom-smashing playlist. Supercynic took third with a winning POTW, 2-1 bonus record and a seasonal selection by Better than Ezra. Feidt’s Follies next with a POTW, 3-2 bonus, and odd choice of Patsy Cline–are you mocking the game Fido? I’ll be watching you.Stone regained a bit of respectability with a POTW and good list. RMac hit her second POTW in as many tries, and is obviously uninterested, though maybe she can find enough humor here to bring her back. Sweet was right on their heels with a POTW, 1-0, a timely Michigan retraction, and his Culture Club DVD. JLM was the last to get her POTW, though it was done outside the blog. Ed tied his POTW, along with MD (2-1 on bonus). POTW losers, with their bonus picks in parentheses were Larry, BR (2-0), TKH (3-2), Fig E (2-2-1), and OB in last place (1-4) though he was obviously hampered by Hurricane Ike. Smiley went 3-1 without choosing a POTW and Zeek jumped in early this week and gets a single point just for the hell of it. All you POTW losers get kudos for your tunes as well, even Smiley for his PHS carpooling song shout-out.

Here are the standings:

  1. Fig–112
  2. TB–95
  3. Rock Star–65
  4. Supercynic–56
  5. Ed–53
  6. RMac–52
  7. Feidt’s Follies–45
  8. OB–42
  9. JLM–37
  10. Sweet–30
  11. Larry–25
  12. MD–15
  13. BR–13
  14. TKH–11
  15. Smiley–9
  16. Stone–8
  17. Zeek–1
New players are always welcome. With heavy emphasis on nailing your POTW and backing it up with some good tunes, the standings can change fast. It’s 50 points for the weekly winner, dropping quickly to 40, 35, 30, then a lot of close scores from 29 down. No negative points this week and everybody’s Back in Black.
TB’s Picks this week
  • Arkansas +9
  • Notre Dame +8′
  • Tulane  -6
  • Minnesota  -6′
  • LSU  -2
Pick of the week — Georgia -6′
My Tunes, livin it up while I’m winning
  • Dizz Knee Land–Dada
  • Steady as She Goes–The Raconteurs
  • Elevation–U2
  • I’m Goin to Town–Robert Earl Keen
  • Theme from The Dukes of Hazzard–Waylon Jennings

Categories: Music · Sports
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Thursday Pickin Round 3

September 10, 2008 · 30 Comments

Ahhhhh, sweet redemption.  TB knocked it out of the park last weekend boys and girls. Four and one in my regular picks and a sweet “lose-but-cover” pick of the week by my Ole Miss Rebels (sorry Rebel fans, if my school didn’t suck so bad I wouldn’t mind so much that ya’ll are looking good). And two of my three underdog picks not only covered but won their games straight up. There’s a good chance I won’t have another week as good, so I need to get in my gloating now–so bear with me for a minute and if you know me picture a very smug TB for the next five seconds (if you don’t know me think Bill Clinton’s smirk).  Fig and OB, you are invited to join in the gloatacious revelry.

Gloat

Gloat

Smirk

Gloat

Ok, enough of that.  Let’s go to the scoreboard. In addition to my good week, Fig E and OB went 4-1 and nailed their POTW.  Fig gets his second weekly win (tied with me) by virtue of Florida’s running it up field goal and another solid playlist, backed up by a nice scheduling and arenas comment.  RMac joined the game and showed mid-season form with her Tulane pick and anti-Bush musical selection. Rock Star edges out Local Man and JLM by naming a POTW and putting up a nicely themed playlist. Local’s playlist edged him ahead of JLM though JLM made it close with a sweet hair band pair of tunes, and they both went 4-1.  But I never saw one labeled the POTW for these two, so that hurt their score. Larry went 2-3 but nailed his POTW and had a playlist in TB’s sweet spot. Sweet’s next with a winning POTW, followed by SC who got the POTW but went 0-3 on his bonus choices. Ed comes next for following directions well and providing another thematic and historically significant tune. BR’s Cult of Personality gave him the nod over TKH even though his 1-2 record was worse than TKH’s 3-2.  They both lost their big game.  MD went 1-1 but got mauled in his POTW and inexplicably didn’t throw out some Metallica for us. Stone was flat out horrible–a very weak effort.  And Smiley was missing in action.

Here are the current standings: Fig–100; TB–45; OB–32; Ed–31; RSR–25; RMac–25; SC–21; Local–15; JLM–14; Larry–10; Sweet–5; BR–(-)1; Smiley–(-1); TKH–(-)2;   MD–(-)5; Stone–(-20)

And now, the picks:

  • UCLA      +8
  • NC State +18′
  • Georgia  -7
  • Ga Tech -7′
  • Tulane   +12′
  • Pick of the Week — USM +1′
Some celebratory tunes this week
  • Jamming–Bob Marley
  • A Little Respect–Erasure
  • Shake Em On Down–North Mississippi Allstars
  • Superman–REM
  • The Pascagoula Run–Jimmy Buffett
Note–new entrants in to the POTW contest are always welcome.  Even TJ.

Categories: Sports
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Sittinathomebaen Football Bloggin

September 6, 2008 · 6 Comments

Quote of the Day     “It only takes one.”     Rusty Lachaussee, during the 1993 Sugar Bowl

Anybody else taking in a college game or twelve today?  Since TB can’t sit in Waldo’s 1980′s parlor, or Scoop’s 1990′s starter home or TB’s early 21st century bachelor pad, I’ll have to turn to the blog for an outlet to talk football.  Whether anyone is listening is not….germane.

Early in the day–So. Miss is a lynchpin of TB’s for entertainment purposes only football picks today.  Good first quarter on the scoreboard, though they are really being dominated. They’re gonna need at least 14 points to cover and I don’t know if they’ll get it.  It’s luck they are only down 7 early in the second.

Upset watch is focusing on the Big Ten–Ohio State and Wisconsin trailing–but its very early.

Illinois needs to keep the throwback uniforms–they look good.  I like Syracuse’s too, but they’ve sucked ever since they changed to them.  Speaking of uni’s, TB loves UCLA’s best–I don’t care if baby blue isn’t tough looking.

9 minutes in the 2d now in the Auburn-USM game.  Aub is fixin to stretch the lead.  This may be a blowout before long.  As we come to the close of the half, the buzzards are self destructing near the goal line.  I sure could use a TD, but at third and 16 from the 17 it’s gonna take a miracle.  I bet they end up missing a FG.  Meanwhile, Michigan is getting ready to be tied by Miami OH–who Vandy destroyed, and Ohio St still trails Ohio, though Wisconsin now leads Marshall.  But the Big Ten, as usual, is a damn joke.  And no field goal for Southern–THAT bet I win.

USM is playing like they are intimidated by Auburn.  Hesitant on both sides.  Southern has a reputation as “giant killers” but the truth is they haven’t beaten a giant in years.  Miss State and Ole Miss are scared of them, but I don’t know why.  Checking in with the Big 10, looks like Michigan and Ohio State will win, but in less than impressive fashion.  To be fair to the rest of their conference, Purdue, Mich St, Iowa, Illinois and now Wisconsin are taking care of business against lesser foes, but its pretty bad when your headline teams are so weak.  We’ll see about Ohio State when they play USC.  I figure they’ll get at least 10 points from the oddsmakers, but I’ll be on USC’s bandwagon.  Did I mention USM sucks?

Now in the 4th and USM has woken up.  I guess when they realized they wouldn’t win they loosened up. I like the QB, Tight End and the freshman WR Brown. I’m gonna be hacked if the idiotic decision to go for two after the first TD costs me the cover.  24-13 would be a good final.

A good final it is.  I take it all back Buzzards.  You are Giant Killers Spread Coverers.

Ole Miss has started.  Houston Nutt looks like a young Bobby Bowden reincarnate.  I wonder why he never used his imagination in Arkansas?  By the way…what’s the deal with the half rings around the shoulders of their jerseys?  I know they’ve been doing that for a few years with all the teams that have that uniform feature, but I don’t like it.

Syracuse trails Akron 14 zip.  What in the hell has happened to the Cuse?  It’s like they got the death penalty a la SMU, but they didn’t.  Maybe Stone can find out for me.

A nice stand just before the half for Ole Miss.  They look pretty good, and that’s without Greg Hardy, probably the Rebs’ best overall player.  I mentioned above how I can’t figure what happened to Syracuse’s once proud program.  I do know how Wake’s once loser program turned around.  Redshirt discipline. They just flashed a stat that Wake has played only 10 true frosh under Jim Grobe.  5th year seniors are 22 or 23 years old.  Guys that age can handle 19 and 20 year olds, even if they have a little less talent.  Why Miss State can never learn this is a burr under my saddle.

Well I just went and watched the second half of the Ole Miss game with SC.  A tough luck loss and I’m sensitive enough to the plight of the Rebel fan not to offer platitudes.  Still, as a State fan, I’d trade places with them.  And as far as TB is concerned, it was a great cover and the TB POTW is now 1-1 on the season.

Total BS on the Washington-BYU finish.  Washington was penalized for excessive celebration when they scored with two seconds left and after the penalty had the tying extra point blocked.  I didn’t see the celebration, but I would have had to be really bad to justify a penalty.  And I know from personal experience how WAC officials cheat for BYU.  Of all State losses I’ve witnessed, and that is a lot, I’ve blamed numerous losses on the refs.  But number one on the cheater list, even more than the cheating we’ve suffered against Alabama, is the BYU game officiated by a WAC crew.  Apparantly they are still out there shilling for BYU.

Categories: Sports
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Thursday Pickin

September 4, 2008 · 28 Comments

Quote of the Day     “I’ve lost my mojo, baby.”     –Austin Powers

Waldo Pepper is the patriarch.  The penultimate power wielder has been Sweet for several years now.  But perhaps from long association or possibly it may be innate, whatever the reason, TB has a great connection to the power that influences sporting events worldwide.  My theory is by publicizing my picks to a worldwide audience, I angered the power or maybe taunted it.  Not only did I lose 4 of 5 regular picks, but I lost my pick of the week in blowout fashion, got Alabama on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and probably contributed to Mississippi State’s embarrassing defeat just as an extra kick while I was down.  The gambling gods are obviously displeased with my decision to go public with my predictions, and must have laughed heartily at my decision to choose my second most hated team (sometimes most hated) as the loser in my first public pronouncement.  

But the strange thing about the power is that it cannot be walked away from.  It cannot be looked away from.  No matter how much pain, disillusionment, shock and financial ruin it causes you, once you have wielded the power, you cannot help but see if it can be recaptured each weekend.  So I will carry on.  

Last week we had a ringer chime in with Tennessee and Wake as locks.  Flash may be a pro, but you know the pros pretty much suck.  With a site like Flash has, I’d expect better than break even.  We’ll see if he/she/it shows up to look for redemption this week.

Joining TB as week one POTW losers were RockStarRambler, Madd Dawg, OB, BR, and Stone who gets two losses for the price of one. I may deduct extra points from Stone just for spite.  The biggest winner of the week was Fig who correctly called the Bama win and Florida cover, but gets just a single point.  TB has decided mid-game to penalize those who pick two losers but not reward those who pick two winners, especially when they come at my expense.  The rules are subject to change each week by the way.  Ed, Supercynic, and Smiley get credit for a win, though Smiley loses the tie-breaker for the week of this trio for going with Miss State as a third pick.  Fig gets bonus points for a nice playlist, and Ed gets a bonus for picking up on the idea of making a thematic music choice.  RSR got enough musical points to take the lead in the loser’s bracket and the ladies’ division.

So after week one, its Fig, Ed, Supercynic, Smiley, RockStarRambler, Flash for the Cash, OB, BR, Madd Dawg, TB, and Stone.  TB hasn’t decided yet how to allocate the points, partly because I just decided points should be awarded as I typed this sentence.  This means new competitors are still in the running for the season championship in addition to the weekly ones.  So join in, friends and strangers, each Thursday.

This week’s 5 picks are:

  • Vanderbilt     +9′
  • So. Miss        +17′
  • Stanford        +14
  • Kansas          -21
  • Ga Tech        +7
The pick of the week is Ole Miss +8.  Ole Miss is good.  They can score a lot of points.  The gambling mojo gods are torn between taking my money and my heart, but they usually go for the heart.  The Rebs are ascendant.  Dammit.
Finally, here’s a few more tunes to ease the pain of a football season devoid of joy already, this first weekend of September:
  • If I Had a Million Dollars–Barenaked Ladies
  • Jealous Again–Black Crowes
  • Say it Isn’t So–The Outfield
  • Man of Constant Sorrow–The Soggy Bottom Boys
  • Gone to Carolina (Live)–Shooter Jennings

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Pickin on Thursdays

August 28, 2008 · 16 Comments

Quote of the Day     “For most men (till by losing rendered sager), Will back their opinions with a wager.”     George Gordon, Lord Byron, from “Beppo”

Before you act on any of the information contained in today’s post, be forewarned that TB has had only brief interludes of success in his gambling career.  But the weekend’s comin and it’s football season which means you have to pick college games against the spread. I’m going to give you five regular picks plus a five star, guaranteed, money back, free picks for the rest of the year if I lose, lead pipe, shoo-in, lock of the year, pick each week. If you have a pick of the week, please leave it as a comment.  I’ll report each week on the success or lack thereof on each picker, and create some major awards at the end of the year for the best and worst prognosticators.

A surer bet and a good way to forget about losing your weekly office pool is to turn off the TV at some point on Saturday, open a beer if you haven’t already, and listen to some good tunes over the weekend.  In that spirit, I also offer a six song playlist from my Ipod library and invite you to add a song or a few that ought to go on it.  So here we go.

  • Illinois +8′ over Missouri   
  • Hawaii +35 over Florida
  • USM -10′ over ULaLa
  • Michigan -3′ over Utah
  • Memphis +7′ over Ole Miss

TB’s PICK OF THE WEEK–Clemson -4′ over Alabama

I may look at all of these differently come Saturday morning, and I really have no analysis as a basis for the picks other than Memphis usually plays Ole Miss close and I heard Clemson was supposed to be good this year.  So feel free to castigate me, but don’t come cryin that you relied on TB and blew your paycheck.

This weekend’s playlist, and I’m playin it loud:

  •  Turn it Up–Todd Snider
  • Amarillo Highway–Robert Earl Keen
  • Late Last Night–Cross Canadian Ragweed
  • Hurricane Party–Cowboy Mouth  
  • Pump it Up–Elvis Costello
  • Oh, Atlanta–Little Feat
I’m feelin a little thirsty all of a sudden.

Categories: Music · Sports
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