Friday, September 2, 2016

First Weekend Friday!



Talk about shattering some dreams quickly!  The Cremesicles and Furry Rodents were BOTH EXPOSED on the first evening of meaningful games and may have everyone scratching their heads about who is good and who isn’t….That’s why they play the games in stadiums and they don’t play them on paper….Both these fan bases will get a special honor and recognition in the Monday edition of the “5 Stages of Slappy Fan Grief”.

I, along with the rest of the country didn’t get to see the UT vs App State NEAR reincarnation of “The Horror” of 2007 live but we did see ESPN look ins.  App State goes into the second biggest house and almost pulls off the miracle, again.  And if their coach hadn’t had his head up is own arse in the final minutes (and if they would have made that extra point) there probably wouldn’t have been an OT. 

I DID see a lot of the little “m” game and I guess you can say one of two things:  That one’s out of their system as I believe the Gophers did just about everything you can do to try to lose a game (snapping out of the endzone and a game record four (4!) defensive ejections for targeting).  Claeys said afterwards he wasn’t sure that Minnesota had even had one ejection (I can THINK of one that SHOULD HAVE BEEN CALLED that wasn’t) since the rule was put in place.  OR, secondly and maybe closer to the truth:  The Fuzzy Rodents aren’t that good.  Which way the gophers go will reveal itself as the season moves forward, but sheesh…

It’s funny when football Finally gets here.  The countdowns, the talk, all the stuff leading up to it and suddenly:  BOOM!  There’s games and reality rears its ugly head!

I watched the Cal-Hawaii game last Friday.  Most of it anyway.  I didn’t see anything that made me regret my Michigan to cover the 41 at home pick too much, and Hawaii turned the ball over 5 times against what is supposed to be a rebuilding Cal Bear defense.

That’s not good….for Hawaii. 

Hawaii also made public (for whatever reason) a request to see the Michigan scrimmage tape.  The request is so asinine that I can’t believe the Hawaii coaching staff actually made it and I’m not sure what their motivation was for making it (the request).  I can tell you that this was probably the look on Jimmy’s face when he heard they were asking:

 


Another Newsy type item that I have to comment on, and this can only be filed under one heading:  The “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (WTF) are you THINKING!!!!” by having a Joe Paterno Commemoration day before the Temple Game to recognize the fact that it was exactly 50 years ago that JoPa took the field as a head coach….I wonder if James Franklin was consulted on this?  IF he was, I wonder what his opinion was regarding the question:  “Do you think this is a good idea?  Yes or no?”

Let me ask you something:  Is Temple going to recognize and honor Bill Cosby as well?  Maybe Michigan can bring back Ted Kazinski to Ann Arbor and have him be an honorary captain?  I know JoPa didn’t do the molesting…but furgodsakes HE KNEW ABOUT IT AND DID NOTHING!!!!   Let JoPa and everything associated with the last 40 years go PSU….Let it go and chalk this up as a ….BAD IDEA. 

Something else that I’ve been thinking about is the fact that I didn’t really do any deep dives into any potential “Dark Horses” that people don’t see coming in the Power 5 conferences.  So, I’ll make up for that oversight right now!  In no particular order, here goes:

ACC Coastal

I’m not even sure who the favorite is at this point, but I don’t see Duke repeating as the champ.  I believe that a team that might – MIGHT surprise some people and has an outside shot of making the ACC championship is Virginia Tech under former Memphis head coach Justin Fuente.  They just might be something special.   Also watch:  Miami

ACC Atlantic

While they’re not a complete Dark Horse, I do like Louisville to upset either Clemson or FSU.  If they can get past both, look out! 

SEC East

The SEC East is the really bad half of the SEC.  And I think everyone kind of has the Cremesicles winning the East this season (maybe not so much now) and some even have the Cremesicles in the CFP.  A good Dark Horse to watch here even though the won the East last year will be Florida.

SEC West

I always go with these guys and sooner or later, BB is going to come through for me!  Arkansas is the perennial pick of dreamers and hopers.  I’ll do it again and say that the Hogs have a punchers chance to win the West.

Big XII

Even though they’re still 10 teams in the BigXII….the Sooners are eveybody’s favorite.  But I’m going to say that even though TCU will be tough, they won’t be as tough as everyone thinks.  Watch out for Burnt Orange Nation, a new offense and a motivated coach…and if they can get past the domers early, well, winning the first one is the hardest, sometimes. Not So Dark Horses for invites to the conference:  Cincinnati and Houston.  Dark Horses:  U-Conn and Memphis.

Pac 12 North

Again, I’m not even sure who the favorite is (Washington’s Huskies perhaps) but a team I’ll be watching with a record setting returning QB is Washingon State.  Coached by the Pirate, Mr. Leach, the Wazoos may surprise some people this season.

Pac 12 South

I guess UCLA is the favorite and my pick of Stanford is a bit of a dark horse pick, but if someone were to really come out of left field it would be Rich Rod and the Wildcats that would surprise some people….just sayin’.

Big West

After that hideous debut, the furry rodents winning it all seems like a long shot now….

Big East

Maryland….who else?

The FMQ

So, the gophers screwed up what had been a perfect record so far.  I’m adding a couple of picks to the list I posted last week as there wasn’t a spread available yet (at least with the service I use) and I was also waiting for hi-jinks, suspensions, arrests, etc.

LSU @ Wiscy (+10)

So much of me wants to take a shot of Wiscy here it’s not even funny.  Especially after seeing the egg that the SEC favorite laid last night on their home field.  Still, the Hatter’s teams seem to start out strong and fade late….Granted, Wiscy was way up last year and handed the game to the Tigers….Revenge at home?

Take Wiscy and the 10 for $25

Ole Miss @ FSU (-4)

Ole Miss has had a lot of NOISE in the background this entire off-season. NCAA investigation that parallels the USC and Miami messes.  USC paid the ultimate price that they’re still recovering from and the U managed to skate on a technicality or that football program might have been wiped clean off the face of the earth.  But I digress….FSU starting a red-shirt QB gave me pause initially, but the last time FSU did that the QB won the Heisman.

Take FSU and lay the 4 for $25

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