I KNOW This Is a CFB Blog, But…
When
something as egregious as this happens, I’ve got to get it off my chest…
For those of you that aren’t America’s Favorite Past Time
Fans, continue down to the FMQ. For
those of you that are, you should be appalled that MLB replay couldn’t get this
call correct.
Clearly, there was
fan interference. And this is how the
rule reads:
The ball becomes
dead, and the umpire will award any bases or charge any outs that, in his
judgment, would have occurred without the interference. Such interference often
occurs when a spectator in the first row of seats reaches onto the field to
attempt to grab a fair or foul fly ball.
BUT!!!!! Once
that ball goes “into the stands”, the fans can do whatever they want.
Betts clearly appeared to be reaching over the railing as
Altuve's ball descended. And major league rules state that once the ball
crosses the threshold from the playing field into the stands, it's fair game
for fans as well as the defender.
Except
(Umpire) Joe West saw things differently from most of the 43,277 in Minute Maid
Park
So, in the Boston-Astros Game four, Altuve bangs one deep to right
field and Betts goes up for it. Several
fans appear to hit his glove, but at the same time, I’m not sure he was going
to be able to make that catch. AND THE
BALL CLEARLY BROKE THE PLANE AND WAS IN THE STANDS! The Right Field Ump West calls it an “out”.
Repeated replay doesn’t over-rule it.
My take: How
does the ump make that call? If he
merely throws both hands up and ruled a “dead ball”, the replay booth would
have then been able to “make the call”, which, after watching it several times,
I think – THINK – that not only would the catch would have been missed by Betts,
but the ball was clearly over the rail and in the stands when the interference
occurred.
It
should have been an HR.
(Watch the trajectory and Betts mitt BEFORE the
interference happens). In any case, an
out was very favorable call to Boston, IMHO. And I don’t think it was an out…Worst
Case: Ground Rule Double?
Even in the Era of Replay, they can’t get calls right.
And it’s sad that fans haven’t learned to back off in
those situations. I have to believe that
everyone has seen what Steve Bartman of Chicago Cubs infamy and the ESPN 30 for
30 “Catching Hell” has gone through. If you’re a lucky enough fan to be
in the front row of a PLAY-OFF GAME, get the hell out of the way, fergodsakes!
That
is all…
THE FMQ
I
gave too many points last week. That’s
never a good idea, but man, it seemed like there were teams out there that were
just ready to throw in the towel. College Football – go figure. I love that I nailed the Tennessee and LSU
upset picks. Should gone moneyline on
those, and I will admit I actually considered it with Tennessee.
There’s
more elimination games this week, though not as obvious as last week. And there’s some “quiet” rivalry games that
teams just wanna’ win.
This week’s picks:
Oklahoma @ TCU (+8): This
is a scary spread... In a way, I
would have had the Laters as more of a 13 or 13.5 point spread in this
one. And THEN I would easily take the
Horned Frogs as double-digit home dogs.
The problem now is the Horned Frogs just haven’t looked good the last
couple of weeks. The Texas Beat Down was
for real and Texas Tech made the Frogs look very vanilla. And I just don’t know how the Frogs bounce
back. And the Laters are coming off a
bye…
Take the Laters and lay
the 8 for $20
Cincinnati @ Temple (-3.5): Cincinnati is undefeated, but they really
haven’t played the strength of the American Conference yet. And Temple is not a bad team, even though they’ve
figured out a way to lose 3 games... They knocked off Maryland earlier in the
season and racked up a boatload of yards in the process. But S&P+ likes the Bearcats more than the
Owls. I have to take the higher ranked
team getting points.
Take Cincinnati and the 3.5
for $20
Bama @ Tennessee (+30.5
MONEYLINE: $100: $3,250): This is one of those “quiet rivalries” I was
eluding to earlier. Straight off their
upset win over Auburn, the Vols might be feeling a lot better about themselves
this week. I’m not saying they can beat Satan’s
Warriors, but they’ve gotta’ play the game.
Bama is a little banged up and I think – THINK – the Vols
can cover that many points at home.
Take Tennessee and the
30.5 for $20
Just for Shits and
Giggles: MONEYLINE - Tennessee $10 -
$325 (I can be wrong 32.5 times on a bet like this!!!)
MSU @ LSU (-6.5): LSU
is fresh off a pantsing of SEC East favorite Georgia. In fact, there were a lot of fans that were
picking the Dawgs to win the SEC this season. MSU is 1-2 in the SEC under Moorehead
with losses to Kentucky and Florida, both SEC East Schools. So, technically, they’re still perfect in the
SEC West. But I don’t think the Tigers
are going to take their foot off the gas this week and the Bulldogs might get
steamrolled…
Take the Tigers and lay
the 6.5 for $20
Oregon @ WSU (-3): I know – I did a double-take when I saw
this spread, too. Oregon is the better team on paper, but
the Pirate
knows a thing or two about Shocktober football and how to upset better teams.
And this is in Pullman. And GAMEDAY
is finally going to Pullman after Ole Crimson
has
spent 15 years (216
consecutive Game Day Appearances) going to all the Gameday locations. It’s a 7:30 (4:30 Local) ET start, meaning it’ll
finish after sunset. Still, aren’t the
Ducks getting 3 points tempting?
Take Oregon and the 3 for $20
Gophers @ Nebraska (-4.5): Wow. A Winless Team is giving points at home to a
team that just played THE STU to the end of a game that was closer than the
score indicated. This is a tricky spread. I like the Cornsuckers to score their first
W this week. They SHOULD HAVE WON LAST
WEEK. Still, I have a quirky
feeling this could be a 1 or 2-point contest when it’s all said and done.
Take the Gophers and the
4.5 for $20
Northwestern @ Rutgers (+20): Right
now, I’m looking for any excuse to bet AGAINST Rutgers. Rutgers is a miserable 2-5 vs. the number and
they don’t cover at home. 20
seems like a lot to lay with the Purple Kitties, but they’re still riding high
with wins over LNU and the Cornsuckers. I look for Fitzy’s Boys to win this game
waking away…
Take the Purple Kitties
and lay the 20 for $50
Maryland @ Iowa
(-8.5): This game and spread is puzzling….I really thought the Black
Birds would be favored by double digits in this one, based on how Maryland has
played on the road.
Meaning: They haven’t played well
AT ALL on the road. This is only the 2nd
time for Maryland at Kinnick, and for all intents and purposes, it’s
really the first time for this crew as the last time the Terps were there was
2015. I don’t like the Terps chances to
win in this contest at all, and covering will be an issue…
Take Iowa and lay the 8.5
for $30
Vandy @ Kentucky
(-10.5): I thought Vandy was a better
team a month ago. Lately, they’ve done nothing but make me
sorry for taking them and the points. Kentucky
is coming off a bye week and will have fresh legs and be in front of a
home crowd. I like the Wildcats walking
away in this one…
Take Kentucky and lay the
10.5 for $30
NC State @ Clemson
(-17.5): Again, WHERE IN THE HELL DID THIS SPREAD COME FROM?
If you’ve watched this game for the last
several years, you understand that NC State is not afraid of Clemson, has almost
upset Clemson a couple of times, and is more or less built to beat Clemson (NC
State has RECEIVERS and a QB – Clemson has secondary issues). While the Wolfpack might not win, I’m certain
they’ll keep it closer than 17.5…
Take the Wolfpack and the
17.5 for $30
THE STU @ Purdue (OPEN +14.5
TODAY: 12.5 MONEYLINE - $100:$400): This spread is another head scratcher. If
you haven’t watched Purdue this season, you’re missing out. Brohm’s offense is good. REALLY GOOD.
And THE STU’s Defense (especially the secondary) is their achiles
heel. Fun Fact: Which team leads the B1G with their Defense
giving up plays of 30+ yards or more??? THE STU. ANOTHER FUN FACT: Which team leads the B1G with plays over 30+
yards on offense? You got it – Purdue!!! And they’re not called the “Spoilermakers”
for nothing. This game could easily
swing in favor of the Spoilers and 50K Boiler fans could storm the field after
the upset.
Take the Spoilers and the
14.5 for $30
Take Purdue and the MONEYLINE
for $20
Michigan
@ LNU (Open: +5 TODAY: +7 O/U: 41):
Sigh. I’m REALLY hoping for, as AP put it when
Nebraska came to the Big House, “A Good Old-Fashioned ASS-KICKING!” in East
Lansing tomorrow. This will be the 111th
meeting and with an overall record of 69-36-5, Michigan has truly DOMINATED
their little brothers from the north since they started playing this game. However, recent history and D’antoeiunsd
suggest there may be a change in that trend.
LNU, under aforementioned
“ass-hat”
of a coach, is 8-2 straight up and 10-0 “against the spread” in the last 10
games.
10-0
ATS.
That’s unbelievable for a “Gamblor’s” mind. It’s actually mind-boggling. That’s not even a trend. It’s an outlier. It really shouldn’t happen. It implies that not only is this the “biggest”
game for LNU, it’s the one they focus on all season. What’s even more unbelievable is that Michigan
was favored in 5 of those last 10 contests. Meaning that LNU beat the spread when they
were dogs AND when they were favored.
Looking at the numbers is something I do a lot.
This Season, Michigan is DOMINATING in every category. It’s not even close (yes, LNU rushing
defense. But the best rushing team they’ve
played up to PSU was ranked 57th.
PSU, ranked in the teens when it comes to rushing, managed some rushing
yards last week but still lost).
LNU’s overall offense ranks in the 70’s and they come in at S&P+
overall rank of 33, down two slots after WINNING against PSU. LNU hasn’t started the same 5 guys on the
offensive line once this season. Michigan effectively STEAMROLLED one of the
better D-Lines in the B1G last Saturday, piling up yards on the ground. And yet, somehow, I’m nervous heading into
this game and I’m questioning the intangibles.
Michigan
has lost 2 games to these clowns with Harbaugh at the helm (the other 6 losses in
the last 8 came under Hoke and RichRod, who everyone inside and outside of the
B1G beat regularly). Harbaugh’s 2 losses
were games that were lost in the Big House.
The Punt in 2015 (Where Michigan was 99% to win) and last season’s
monsoon where Michigan’s John O’Korn tried to pass a waterlogged football in
terrible conditions, turning it over 5 times (3 ints and 2 fumbles) in the 2nd
half trying to overcome a 4 point deficit. Come to think of
it, Michigan
in The Big House vs. LNU for Harbaugh has been a bad, if not terrible,
thing. These same LNU F-er’s broke
Harbaugh’s arm (I’ll never forget that) in the Big House and ended his season
in 1984. Michigan went 6-6 that season
(The MMQ’s Freshman Year and Bo’s worst season ever – Yeah, that sucked). Harbaugh would be back, however, the
following
But
I digress. Back to the intangibles: Arrested LNU players (Assault, sexual
assault, DUI’s, etc) with police records that are still on the team? Check.
Racist
players re-instated on the team? Check.
There will be LNU cheating in the secondary with grabby DBs,
which, is a given. Poking guys in the
eyes – of course, what else do you expect from a bunch of cheaters? Spitting, Fisticuffs and Nut-Sack Punches are
just a sampling of LNU’s favorite post tackle rituals. Referees with flags in their pockets – where else
would they be? Overall poor sportsmanship
– win at any and all costs, gimmicks and chicanery are all just the tip of the
ugly green iceberg. Not to mention
Sparty Bob is probably still running the F-ing clock in East Lansing.
Oh,
and it’s supposed to rain, too!
You know what…
Screw all of that BS!!!
History
gets righted on Saturday and the tradition of clobbering LNU 2 out of every 3
games (or more often) is going to be restored.
And the green slime is sent on their way to an 8-4 or 7-5 season.
Take Michigan and lay the 5
for $100
Take the OVER for $50
PARLAY!
3 Bet/Team Parlay: 6-1
Michigan – Michigan/LNU
OVER – NC State: $50
TOTAL BET: $520
Bank: $212
