NFL Week 4: Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares

Happy Ryder Cup Sunday! Excited to see the 12 singles matches to day to see if we Americans can create any drama at all by staging a comeback. I've got a lot of opinions on this year's Ryder Cup - mostly expressed on Twitter - I'm pissed at the American captains for allowing this home field advantage (set up by the Euros) to affect us so much. What stupidity.

Anyway, Captain Furyk has front loaded his lineup to try to get off to a great start - and that makes sense. I played in the Iowa City- Cedar Rapids Ryder Cup in 2004 and 2005; in '05, we were down a bit and our captain front-loaded our lineup. Our team completed the comeback and won - the last time Iowa City has won the cup. (It's true! I just checked!)

Oh -by the way? In that front loaded lineup? I was the anchor man, going off 12th. What an experience. In that Cup, there was the biggest pressure putt that I ever saw someone make live - and that's a story for another day.

Anyway, for week 4 of the NFL, we will outline Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares!

Show: Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares

Network: Currently on the FYI Network

When: All Day Monday! Monday is Nightmare Marathon on FYI.

Main Characters: Gordon, of course!

Yes, I've started to become a sucker for Gordon's shows. Throughout the spring when I was pretty much confined to my chair, I looked forward to Mondays - that meant the Kitchen Nightmare marathon was going to be on! It started around noon and went into the night - looking back on it, probably should have changed the channel around 4 when Martin got home so he wasn't subjected to the plethora of f-bombs.

Anyway, you all probably know the outline of each show:

- Struggling restaurant needs help, asks Gordon to come in to make it over

- Owners insist food is good, at least a 9 rating out of 10

- Gordon comes, tries the food - and 99% of the time calls it "slop", "dog food", "something the cat could have thrown up", or other such insults

- Gordon talks to the staff to get the real inside story

- A visit to the kitchen fridge to see all the problems in there (uncovered food, blood on the floor, etc.)

- The owners breaking down, admitting to the problems that are at the root cause

- Gordon's team re-doing the décor of the restaurant

- Gordon creating a new limited menu with 5 dishes (always seeming to include fish and chips - to replace the previous menu that had 129 choices

-  A happy ending, with a filled restaurant and rave reviews!

- A note at the end saying that "after 6 weeks of the changes, the sales are up and everybody is still happy".

Well, what else is there to say about the show? Two parts of the show I really love:


1. I do respect Gordon for always trying to corner the wait staff to really get at the problems of the restaurant. "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" - that's always the start of some confessions. "Yes, all of our shrimp are frozen". "Yes, the soup of the day was made 10 days ago", etc.
That's a good organizational leadership model - talk to the first-level staff to get at the root causes quickly.

2. Why the limited menu? Sometimes, I want to go to a restaurant with 100+ choices! I don't know if I am in the mood for nachos, lasagna or tilapia. Why not go to a place that serves them all?? Maybe that's why I loved the Ground Round back in the day.



(side note- there was (and still is, I think) a Ground Round in Iowa City! I tried to take Janice there many times but she refused. Had to go on my own and eat the free popcorn).

There are websites out there devoted to what happens after Gordon leaves. Does the restaurant survive? Did they go back to making chicken with onions? I wonder what the survival rate of those restaurants are. For instance - does any of our Baltimore readers actually go to the new Café Hon in Baltimore to see the changes?

Why am I bringing this show up this week? Well, it looks like we may have made a critical change in the Browns' menu. Instead of offering up 29 starting quarterbacks - some days I'm in the mood for a Bruce Gradkowski - we may have found our one menu item that works. Baker Mayfield. Chef Dorsey has cleaned out our menu and settled on Mayfield.

The early returns - the first week - has been great. But what will the restaurant look 6 weeks from now? A year from now? Will we go back to the microwaved Tyrod Taylor dish and continue to struggle? Or will we keep the Mayfield dish for years to come? Only time will tell.

And injuries.

On to the games:

Cin 27, Atl 20. I don't get this. Atlanta is all banged up in the secondary - and AJ Green is back. I know it's Marvin Lewis, but won't Dalton throw all day over the Falcons D?

Chi 24, TB 13. Love the idea of the Bear pass rush - at home - vs. Fitzpatrick, or a rusty Winston. Pit's D forced Fitz into multiple turnovers - what are the Bears going to do?

Dal 23, Det 16. Love this spot here for the Cowboys. A team coming off their Super Bowl (Lions) and winning, going on the road to face a desperate team? Garrett better be prepared for this.

GB 24, Buf 20. If we throw out the disaster first week for the Bills, they haven't been too bad. The Packers barely beat the Bears at home, tied the Vikes, and lost to the Skins. They're overrated.

Ind 20, Hou 17. Scared of this game. Indy has played 3 straight games fairly well, and are facing a completely desperate Houston team with Watson getting better each week.

Jax 30, NYJ 16. The Jets have almost no weapons, and the Jags will focus this week to ensure a win. They can't look past another opponent.

NE 26, Mia 23. If you remove the names off the jersey, Miami should actually be favored in this one. What do the Pats do well? I know, they are desperate, but they look horrible.

Phi 23, Ten 16.  I have to give the Titans credit here for being 2-1 even though being 25th or worst in Off and Def. Vrabel will be a great coach. But I trust Wentz here.

Sea 20, Arz 17. Won't watch much of this - interested to see how Rosen fares in his first start (and if Bradford was the cause of the awful start) and how Sea O really is on the road.

LAC 31, SF 17. The Chargers can't be stopped on O - but their D can't stop anyone. I think they will stop Beatherd enough here to have a comfortable win.

NO 27, NYG 24. What a trap game here for the Saints, off the big Atl victory. I just can't trust Eli at all with my money. Should be a close game.

Pit 31, Bal 20. Classic game of matching up strengths/weaknesses. Pit has no pass D - and Baltimore can't take advantage. Pit's O is passing - and this is where missing Jimmy Smith will kill the Ravens.

KC 27, Den 24. Many are calling for the upset here, saying Den's D will stop KC. Den's D let up 24 to Seattle- Seattle!!!- and almost lost to Oakland. Let's not get carried away here.

Best bets: 13 of them. Last week: 10-3; overall: 24-20-1
Cin +3.5
Cin/Atl under 53
Chi -3
TB/Chi under 46.5
Dal -2.5
Buf +9.5
Hou/Ind under 47.5
Jax -7.5
NYJ/Jax over 39.5
Mia +6.5
Phi -3
LAC -10
Pit -3

Supercontest picks: Last week: 4-1; overall: 9-5-1
Cin +5
Chi -3
Dal -3
Buf +9.5
Pit -3

NFL Week 3: Maury

For this week's reality show that we are profiling, we look at staple of Daytime TV - Maury!

    Show: Maury

    Network: Local Stations (WSTR-Channel 64 in Cincinnati,         WJZ-Channel 13 in Baltimore, WUAB-Channel 43 in Cleveland, KFMB-Channel 8 in San Diego. Other cities on request! Who needs to know where this is on in Washington, DC?)

When: Check your local listings. 3 pm here in Cincinnati

Main Characters: Maury, of course!

Well, who doesn't know the basis of the Maury show? It's like your mother's meatloaf - you may not always be in the mood for it- but if you are feeling depressed and need a pick me up - it's always there for you to lift your spirits.


We will get into the show in a moment - but first, the background on Maury Povich! The son of a broadcaster, he was in broadcasting himself in the 60s and 70s, and broke through nationally on a show called "A Current Affair" in 1986. Remember that? This was semi- tabloid journalism, and Wikipedia said critics praised it as a show that delivered information "like a good afternoon newspaper". Boy, how outdated a reference is that? Afternoon newspapers?

(Note: actually, I am old enough to remember that the Baltimore Sun used to publish a morning and evening edition. Your paper box at the end of the driveway was marked with a big Sharpie - "M" for the morning edition, "E" for evening, and "S" for Sunday. Do they even have those "SUNPAPERS" boxes any more in Maryland???)

In 1991, as the talk show boom was just starting, Maury got his own show -The Maury Povich Show. So Maury has been with us nationally now for over 25 years. The first several years focused on family topics - abuse, bullying, family drama, makeovers, etc. Then, around 2005, the show found its niche and hasn't budged since - focusing almost 100% on paternity questions.

You know how this goes - so let me outline a typical episode from memory:

Title: "Shocking DNA Results!"

Plot: Our guest comes in, usually a 20-ish woman, trying to establish who the father is for her child. The child is usually about 6-24 months. She thinks she knows who the daddy is; actually, she is usually about 500% certain. A picture of the baby with the suspected baby daddy is shown; the resemblance is "obvious" to the guest.

The suspected baby daddy comes in to boos from the audience (why?); he is 3,000% certain he is NOT the father for whatever reason. Maury asks him if the test determines he is father, will he support the baby? The answer is always yes.

Then the teaser - we have the DNA testing results! THE RESULTS ARE IN!

Commercial, usually for a divorce lawyer

We're back; Maury has a big legal-size envelope with the results; the ending for this segment can go one of two ways:

1. Maury rips open the envelope and says: "In the matter of this later, the paternity test determines that....(dramatic pause)...you ARE the father!" The lady jumps up and down and gets in the guy's face (not sure how that helps); huge cheers from the audience and the guy usually is subdued and agrees to start paying child support. 

2. Maury rips open the envelope and says: "In the matter of this later, the paternity test determines that....(dramatic pause)...you ARE NOT the father!" The guy immediately jumps up and down and runs off screen in celebration; the lady starts crying and runs backstage in a complete breakdown. We see Maury go back, comfort her and say "we can help you find the real father. Let us know if you have other guys you want us to test"

And....scene! Another guest comes in after the break!

(How did I do?)

(another side note: a rapper published an album named "You are the Father" with Maury on his cover. May need to buy this CD just for giggles....)

Maury is on at 3 pm here in Cincinnati - that has been prime nap time for me, so this is not appointment TV; however, it's great for background noise if I'm around the house, or if I'm feeling depressed and want to feel better about myself. It's always there for me when I need it. That's the comfort food of the Maury show. 

Why am I bringing up Maury this week? Well, as a Browns fan, I feel like I have been a recurring guest on this program for 19 years. Ever since 1999, I imagine Maury has a annual episode every fall with Browns fans....

September episode: Eric is our special guest today on Maury! Eric has been here a few times...15, to be exact....looking for his franchise quarterback...

Eric: I'm sure we have a franchise quarterback! I'm sure that this guy- Tim Couch, Kelly Holcomb, Luke McCown, Charlie Frye, Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson, Brandon Weeden, Colt McCoy, Robert Griffin, DeShone Kizer ----- I'm sure that he is our franchise quarterback.

(two months go by)

November: Maury says to me "THE RESULTS ARE IN !"

"In the matter of being the Browns franchise quarterback, (insert QB name here) - you ARE NOT the franchise QB for the Browns!"

I then go running off stage into the arms of Layup asking "How did this happen? Why can't I find a franchise quarterback???" Layup just rolls his eyes for the 15th time and thinks: "Oh boy. Here we go again...."

Now - for the 2018 version of the Maury Browns show - will Maury tell me good results? Do we finally have a franchise quarterback in Baker Mayfield? I hope so. I don't want to be sobbing backstage again in November....

On to the games:

Atl 30, NO 27. Can't trust either team in this game. Not sure that the Falcons O is completely back, and I see a lot of issues in the Saints. 3 point home team win.

Bal 27, Den 17. Case Keenum beat the Raiders and Seahawks at home. Really? I'm supposed to be impressed by that? I don't think he can take advantage of a weak Ravens secondary.

Cin 23, Car 16. I still don't believe in the Panthers. I think the Bengals front 7 will shut down McCaffrey and the Panthers don't have the passing game to overcome that.

Hou 23, NYG 13. Hou has a good run D- and that's all you really need against the Giants O right now. Watson will play better in his first home game for 2018.

Jax 20, Ten 17. Classic let down game. Jax was all amped up for the Patriots last week - it was clear watching each play - they wanted to beat NE so bad. And they did! A letdown is inevitable.

KC 34, SF 30. Have to pencil in the Chiefs for 30+ points until further notice. And the Niners pass D is not great - they almost let the Lions come back and win last week.

Mia 27, Oak 24. Still not sure about either of these teams. I don't think the defenses for either team is all that good; Oakland is starting to move the ball and this should be high scoring.

Min 27, Buf 13. No real motivation for the Vikings here. This seems like a lazy pick - and it is!

Phi 20, Ind 16. Boy, I'm worried about the Eagles. Does Wentz have any rust on him for this week? Who's he throwing to? Who's running? Reich knows the playbook, too...

GB 23, Was 21. This will be a close game, and I think Rodgers will find a way at the end to pull it out. Interesting to watch the Was run game vs. the weak GB defense.

LAR 30, LAC 24. I think the Chargers will score enough points to stay in this game. Too many weapons on the Chargers' side.

Chi 19, Az 16. This will be a close game; the letdown factor is big here, too, for the Bears. And I know how 0-2 teams come back with a good performance in week 3. Seen it 10x times with the Browns.

Sea 27, Dal 17. First home game for Seattle is big. Dallas will force Wilson out of the pocket - but, unlike Eli, he likes that! Wilson will move the ball.

NE 28, Det 27. Spent a lot of time this week asking myself: "how good are the Patriots, really?" They beat Houston by 7 - at home - and we now know Houston has issues. I see a back door cover here.

Pit 27, TB 24. I hope I am so, so wrong on this pick. I want nothing more that to see another Pittsburgh loss. Maybe Bud Light should start putting beer coolers in Pittsburgh....

Best bets: 13 of them. Last week: 7-7; overall: 14-17-1
Bal -5.5
Cin +3
Hou -6
NYG/Hou under 43.5
Ten +TBA
SF/KC over 54.5
Oak/Mia over 44.5
Ind +7
Ind/Phi under 46
LAC/LAR over 48.5
Az +6
Sea -1.5
Det +7

Supercontest picks: Last week: 2-3; overall: 5-4-1
Bal -5.5
Cin +3
Ten +9.5
Az +5.5
Sea -2

NFL Week 2: Chopped

It's round 2 of reality TV shows that I have been addicted to during my treatment! Everyone knows this show...

Show: Chopped

Network: Food Network

When: Weekday afternoons, and more importantly from 2am-3am most days

Main Character: Ted Allen

I will have to warn you - there will be several Food Network shows coming up in the next few weeks! If you can't eat for weeks on end, the next best thing you can do is watch people make food and eat!

I assume many of you have seen Chopped - the "Game Show"/"Survivor" of the Food Network. Four aspiring cooks go through 3 elimination rounds in order to crown a champion. Each round gives the cooks a basket of 4 mystery ingredients - the cooks must create a dish with those four ingredients in it. One cook is eliminated every round until we get to the winner, who receives $10,000.

Our host of the show is Ted Allen. He's a great host for the show; has a good camera presence, comfortable with the contestants and keeps the show moving. (And from past years, there are several hosts that can't do that).

Where did Ted Allen come from? He first appeared on our TV screens in 2003 on the Bravo show "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy". Remember that show? 5 homosexuals would help some poor straight guy on clothes, food, culture, style, etc. Ted was the food expert and - I have to say - was the least flamboyant. Yes, I watched several of these episodes. Why do you ask?

Anyway, back to Chopped - the show premiered in 2009 and now has 40 "seasons" and is still going strong with new episodes. Martha Stewart is now a judge! Some personal observations of the show as it exists now:

- the ingredients in the box are starting to become more and more obscure. I haven't heard of many of these ingredients, and I'm no slouch in the kitchen. I know these are professional chefs, but do the viewers really know what violet mustard is? Galangal? Epazote?

- Why do they only have one ice cream machine in the kitchen when almost every episode I watch consists of the contestants fighting over the ice cream machine?

- I'd love to see Don's brother-in-law on this show sometime.

- The injuries! This show is like a NASCAR race. Yeah, the technical skills are cool and all, but I want to see BLOOD! Or at least crashes when two cooks run into each other running around in the kitchen.

- I'd love to be a judge sometime on this. "Your plate looks great - the ingredients are all meshed together, but you used blue cheese. I can't eat this. You are chopped!"

Back in February and March, when I was taking steroids when starting chemo - the steroids caused a lot of sleeplessness. I'd go to sleep around 10, wake up at 12, get back to sleep at 1 am, wake up at 2:30 am- and Chopped was ALWAYS on from 2-3! I would catch the end of this episode, see what's on at 3 in the morning (and we will talk about those programs), and go back to bed at 4. No wonder I was tired almost every day.

I always got a sense of evil satisfaction when one of these arrogant chefs forgot to put one of the mystery ingredients on their plate. "Oh no! He forgot to put the root beer potatoes on! They're still in the frying pan!" Tough luck for you, buddy....

….except I have seen a couple of episodes where another chef made such a mess of the plate that round and that chef got eliminated, not the one that forgot an ingredient. What an embarrassment! You lost to a chef that didn't even use all the ingredients!

And that brings us to the Browns. I would hazard a guess to say that the record of contestants that forgot an ingredient is probably about 3-50. Very rare, but it happens. How does that relate to America's team?

Since 1999, a team that is plus-5 or better in turnover margin is 143-4-1 in the NFL . (Don't quote me on that - I'm going by memory). Two of the four losses, and the tie (of course) are accounted by the Cleveland Browns.

Pittsburgh gave us that game last week. 6 turnovers. And we didn't win. It's like they were the chef that forgot the lamb shank on their appetizer plate- but we had grease and blood all over our plate, so Alex Guarnaschelli gave us the heave ho.

(I do remember one of those 2 losses - one was in 2000 when we had Spergon Wynn as QB; we played at home vs. the Titans in the snow; McNair fumbled at least 4 times and threw 3 picks; the score was 0-0 at half as we moved backward after every turnover. I think we lost 13-3 or something. )

Late breaking news: Just before writing this, I found out that Josh Gordon has been released. There's got to be a lot going on behind the scenes with this; an example is this week. He was in practice all week and then all of a sudden he has a "hamstring" injury on Friday and is listed OUT. WTF?

There is no doubt he will show up in Patriots camp by week 5.

On to the games:

Pit 27, KC 20. Ooooooh, you dissected a horrible Chargers defense on a neutral field - and still almost lost to them. Try playing a real defense first, Chiefs.

Was 30, Ind 28. Given the results from Thursday night, maybe the Colts aren't all that bad. And I don't think Washington showed an elite performance last week, given the competition.

Phi 27, TB 17. The Eagles have extra rest and extra days to prepare for the Bucs, who are so clearly one-dimensional on offense. And the Bucs are missing some D starters. I know this is a trap, but....

Mia 23, NYJ 16. Miami is a much more balanced offensive team than the Jets. I think they will be able to score, which then provides a first test for Darnold. Now we will see how good he is.

LAC 27, Buf 17. Can't predict a Chargers blowout here because of that God-awful defense and horrible Chargers coaching. Should see some points here.

Hou 23, Ten 17. Boy, I'm willing to give the Titans a pass after that weird Week 1 game, but losing Walker really hurts. And a dual QB system? Watson now has a week under his belt to shake off the rust.

Atl 24, Car 20. This will be fun to watch to learn about these two teams going forward. Can Atlanta score in the red zone? What does Carolina do without Greg Olsen?

Min 23, GB 17. Ah! Welcome to the world of DeShone Kizer, Pack fans! Turnovers in the red zone. Dumb decisions with the ball. Welcome to Cleveland, 2017....

LAR 31, Arz 16. It's true the Cardinals can't play worse than they did last week - but the Rams didn't have a good performance either, until the 4th quarter. I expect better offenses from both sides.

SF 27, Det 24. The 49ers let up a lot of yards/plays through the air against the Vikes - and the Lions have just as good passing attack. I think they will rally the troops here in a 4 pm shootout.

NE 23, Jax 20. Do I really need to preview this game? Will be interesting to see if the Pats can shut down Bortles and if Jax secondary can live up to the hype.

Den 27, Oak 17. Yes, I love me some Case Keenum - but I also love that Den D line / pass rush that can put pressure on Carr AND be able to shut down the run.

NYG 20, Dal 17. How can Dallas move the ball here? They will stuff the box to stop Elliott and force Dak to beat them - can he? With what weapons? And will Eli have his meltdown?

Chi 26, Sea 13. I don't believe in the "how will the Bears come back from that loss?" narrative. Sea has a broken O line and key players out in D. Giving the hook? I ain't skeered……

Best bets: 13 of them. Last week: 7-10-1. (6-4-1 straight bets, 1-6 over/unders. Ooof!)
Pit -5.5
KC/Pit under 53.5
Ind +6
Ind/Was over 48
Phi -3
Mia +2.5
LAC/Buf over 42.5
Hou -3
LAR -13
Det +6
Det/SF over 48.5
Den -6.5
NYG +3
Chi -3.5

Supercontest picks: Last week: 3-1-1
(please note; there was an error in last week's blog; the pick was Den -3, but I typed Sea -3 on the blog. The game ended as a push. )

Ind +6
Pit -4
Phi -3.5
NYG +3
Chi -3.5

NFL Week 1: Flipping Vegas

Here we go! Another NFL season begins, which means it's another year of Eric's NFL themed picks! As all of you know, I was diagnosed with cancer in January of this year, and have been fighting the battle since. Things are going well - there is a CaringBridge site set up for regular updates on my condition and adventures.

Many people ask how I spend my time at home during the cancer fight! Some of you have recommended books to read, thinking I would be happy to increase my intellectual knowledge during this time. Well, I really do appreciate those thoughts, but my reading frequency hasn't increased. Instead, I have spent wayyyy too much time this year watching reality TV!

So - this year, we will summarize the top 17 reality TV shows that has helped me get through the cancer fight. Yes, I think my brain has now officially turned to mush over the past 6 months....
For week 1, we will highlight:

Show: Flipping Vegas

Network: A&E

When Broadcast: Mostly Weekend Mornings

Main Character(s): Scott and Amie Yancey

So I discovered this show in February, when I was mostly bed-ridden and sick. This show was on every weekend morning on A&E, showing montages of Vegas before and after commercial breaks. This cheered me up; we just cancelled our March Vegas trip and I needed those images of Vegas to help keep my spirits up.

Then I watched the show. By the end of episode 2, I feel like I could be the writer for the show.

Scott is a professional house flipper in the Vegas market - which was red hot in the late 2000s. However, the market now has fallen on hard times and there are many homes abandoned and up for sale. Scott and his "team" of contractors and workers go in, do the modifications, and flip for a much higher price. Everyone wins, right?

Of course, not so fast. There's his wife Amie, a decorator whose taste costs a little more than the budget allows. Amie usually goes and buys counter tops/tile/fixtures around the 22 minute mark of each show; Scott sees the bill at about the 43 minute mark; conflict ensues.

Scott also hires different project managers to oversee the day to day renovations; inevitably something falls behind schedule in the process. Scott comes pulling up in his Porsche ( I saw a lime green Porsche one episode), berates the project manager, yells in Spanish to the workers - and voila! After commercial break, Voila! Everything is on schedule!

Scott and Amie have 3 real estate agents they use to sell the house - every open house happens on time, multiple offers come in, and the house sells at its asking price.  A happy ending every show!

Many articles I am looking at now call Flipping Vegas as "A&E's hit show..". Really? This was a hit from 2011-15? How do you define a hit on A&E? Over 20,000 viewers watched it?

This is good weekend fluff, but I have to admit the scenes of Vegas on this show got me through the cold weather in February and March, and the depression of cancelling our annual trip. We need to start planning our March 2019 trip now! Maybe I'll try to contact Scott and we can invite him to one of our dinners….

We've had 7 months without the NFL; I missed it so......this NFL-Less depression is now over! Here we go with the Week 1 picks. For any new readers: I do not pick the Browns game as my prediction would be a 51-0 win or a 41-3 loss depending on my mood. And with Hue Jackson as our coach, the latter is so much more likely.

Bal 24, Buf 10. This seems too easy. Nathan Peterman QB'ing against a Ravens defense that is still good against the pass? Yes, McCoy may get some yards, but how will Buffalo score?

Cin 23, Ind 17. I don't believe Cinci is some sleeper 10-6 team; there's just too many questions about the Colts. Luck's health? O Line? Who will catch the ball? Did they fix their front 7 problems?

Ten 20, Mia 17. Not touching a side here; will be interested to watch this to see how these teams execute. Is Tanehill back? Are the Titans still a solid team?

Min 27, SF 13. Don't see how SF moves the ball consistently against this defense and without McKinnon. SF still has issues on run defense - Cook all day, I think.

NE 26, Hou 23. If Watson is 75% of what he was at the beginning of last year, then the Texans should win. However, never pick against Belichick.....I learned this lesson numerous times.

NO 31, TB 17. Again, looks too easy on paper; NO's weapons on O and their young defense should dominate the Bucs. However, NFC South games are weird, and Koetter is desperate for a good start.

Jax 19, NYG 13. There's a lot of love out there for the Giants, and I just don't see it yet. Too many questions on the line for the Giants (on both sides), and Ramsey will neutralize Beckham.

LAC 23, KC 20. Going against the grain here; I see a lot of running on both sides here, which means time taken off the clock. The whole world is on the over on this game.....

Was 26, Az 24. I like Alex Smith, and he can do a lot with some crappy receivers. Arizona will move the ball with Johnson back and the weak Redskins run D.

Dal 23, Car 20. Not a fan of Carolina this year. O line problems; and you're telling me McCaffrey is your back to get the hard yards up the middle? Dallas's new OC will help the Cowboys move the ball.

Den 23, Sea 13. How is Seattle going to score? I don't believe in their running game, and Denver's pass rush should be the dominant force. I don't like Vance Joseph however - prove me wrong!

GB 26, Chi 23. Still a lot of questions on the Packers D that the Bears can now exploit. I feel like the Packers have lost a bit on O with less weapons....it is hard, however, to go against Aaron in Lambeau.

Det 30, NYJ 20. Dome special! Detroit's D is exactly what Darnold needs for a nice intro to the NFL, but the Lions just have too many ways to move the ball, especially at home.

LAR 30, Oak 27.  The obvious play is the Rams, but weird things happen on Monday night. Everyone is focused on the Mack trade, but Oakland still has weapons on O.

Best bets: 18 of them. Yikes!
Bal -7.5
Cin +2
Cin/Ind under 48
Ten/Mia under 45
Min -6.5
Hou +6
NO -10
Jax -3
Jax/NYG under 42
KC/LAC under 48.5
Was +1.5
Was/Az over 43.5
Dal +
Den -3
Sea/Den under 42
Chi +7
Det -6.5
LAR/Oak over 48.5

Supercontest picks for week 1:
Cin +3
Min -6.5
Dal +3
Sea -3
Chi +7.5

There was a lot of hard swallowing when I sent in those picks....

Historical NFL on TV openings, 2018 update

A new tradition on this site is to get pumped for the upcoming NFL season by watching clips of openings of NFL broadcasts and reminiscing. This tradition started when I was in China and somehow found myself in Hong Kong or Macau for the first weekend of the season; being in HK or Macau meant I had free access to YouTube and would spend hours watching old NFL Today highlights! (Yes, literally hours).

For this year's montage, let's focus on NBC and their NFL theme songs in the 80s and 90s. Our first opening:

1. 1980 AFC Championship Game (played Jan, 1981): Oakland at San Diego

A lot of questions about this:

- What is the muppet at the :04 mark? What the hell?

- Jack Murphy was a sports writer?

- The theme song starts at the :59 mark. Wow. This is the opposite of a motivational theme. The music makes me want to put on my disco shoes and dance, instead of running through walls.

- "The American Way to Beat the Pump". Who thought of that?

- Yikes! Dick Enberg in a bright red coat!

I completely forgot that San Diego actually hosted an AFC Championship game during the Fouts years. There's a reason I forgot - because I was still crying from the week before - click on this link for more info.  
Looking back, there's so much heartbreak for Chargers fans in that era. Let's recap:
1979: #1 seed in the AFC; played Houston at home in the divisional playoffs; Houston was without their QB, WR and Earl Campbell; Fouts threw 5 interceptions in a 17-14 loss.
1980: Hosting the AFC championship at home, losing to Oakland
1981: #2 seed, advanced to the championship game where they traveled to.....Cincinnati, in the infamous Freezer bowl with the actual temperature being -9 F.

What horrible luck.

2. 1988 Divisional Playoff: Houston at Denver

This is clearly the best music NBC ever came up with for the NFL. Love the image looking up at the Lombardi trophy. Again, this game is blocked from my memory because of what happened the week before; we lost to Houston in the Wild card game at home.

- 0:45 mark: "Alamo - where all the miles are free". I guess we all take for granted that rental cars have unlimited miles.

- 2:15 - yikes! Merlin Olsen really is the Mountain man. Extreme close up!

- 2:15 - also, please fire the intern that is handling the camera in the background. I'm dizzy after watching just 5 seconds of that.

3. 1994 Divisional Playoff: Cleveland at Pittsburgh

The music here is not great; it's adequate. However, when your graphics prominently feature ….the first down markers - well, that's not inspirational.

Theme song starts at 1:05

- 1:10 - Um, NBC couldn't spring the licensing money to get freal NFL uniforms in their intro? #43's uniform looks like  bad high school uniform

- 2:14 Those blue NBC coats are awful

- 2:13 Wow...what horrible poetry by Pittsburghers. "Your chances are skinny with a quarterback named Vinny" ???? Really? That's the best you can do?

Now - try to compare those NBC theme songs against the gold standard - the early / late 90s theme for CBS:

1998- Jets at Niners

You get:
- The Goo Goo Dolls to open
- The greatest NFL opening theme ever (at 0:50)
- Greg and Phil - 20 years ago!

This was the game that ended on Garrison Hearst's 95 yard run in OT. I watched this in the Des Moines airport (no joke). I think this was the first year I played serious fantasy football - and I believe I had Garrison on my team! Helped to propel me to a week 1 win. It's been all downhill from there.....

Are we ready for the 2018 season?

Hello everybody! We are back and ready to go for the 2018 season!

As usual, we will have a theme for this season's weekly NFL picks. The theme will be released on Sunday with the Week 1 picks - here's a hint: how did I cope during the last 7 months of chemo? No, it will not be a catalog of my 17 worst bad beats at the UTH table.

Some record keeping going into this year:

Overall picks/wagers as published on the blog: we've been doing this for over 8-9 years now (I need to check the actual start)

Last year: 131-101-6 (56.5%)
Overall: 1472-1348-82  (52.2%)

That 52.2% lifetime number is just shy of the 52.3% needed to break even (assuming a -110 line on each game).


(note: I just checked: documented picks on this blog go back to 2006....Wow!)

Supercontest results:

Last year: 54-28-3  (65.9%)
Overall (7 years, 2011-17): 309-269-17  (53.4%)

Is it too much to expect another performance over 60% this year? Probably so....