NFL Week 13: Walt Anderson

This is for all you Ravens fans out there...I can never manage to get your games right, usually because emotion gets in the way. There is no logical reason you should be 7-4....but you are. You are doing it with smoke and mirrors, and I never learn.

Today's ref is Walt Anderson, a nice enough guy it seems who has lucky enough to apparently be the head ref for Super Bowl XXXV. I wouldn't know - I was watching 4 hours of South African PGA golf during that so-called Super Bowl.

And yes, I am going against the Ravens again this week on principle.

NYG 27, Was 17. I just don't trust the Skins at all. RRD, or others - you feel good about this team? Are they going to make the playoffs?

TB 24, NO 20. New Orleans can't play on the road (and Kansas City doesn't count).

Mia 23, StL 10. Go against the Rams until further notice.

Car 20, GB 13. Talk about a smoke and mirrors team - how about Green Bay?

Ind 47, Cle 3. How in the hell are the Browns only an underdog by 4 1/2 points???? I don't bet Browns games...but something is wrong here. The Colts should be favored by 8 or 9.

Bal 20, Cin 16. Don't ask me how the Bengals will score - I don't know. They haven't given up on the season just yet (unlike a certain other team that also is on I-71).

Buf 31, SF 21. If the Bills can't win this one, they won't be able to blame Phil Dawson for missing the playoffs.

SD 30, Atl 27, OT. Just when you think the Chargers are done....

Oak 20, KC 16. Can the Raiders get to 2nd in the AFC West?

Pit 26, NE 20. You know, Pit still needs these games......

NYJ 28, Den 24. A letdown game for the Jets.

Min 24, Chi 13. I can't believe Gus Frerotte is going to win this division. Wow.

Hou 27, Jax 17. The Jaguars have packed it in. The Texans get another gift 2 weeks in a row.

Best bets: 14 picks this week. Last week: 9-5-1; overall: 102-76-4.

NYG -3.5

Mia -7.5

Mia/Stl Under 44

Car +3

Car/GB under 42

Cin +7

Buf -6.5

SF/Buf over 42.5

Atl/SD over 48.5

Pit +1

Pit/NE over 39.5

Den +8

Min -3

Hou -3

Speechless after Sunday

Went up to the Browns game on Sunday with Freddie. Wow. I'm speechless on the debacle that occurred.

To summarize, Brady threw 2 interceptions in 3 quarters - one on the 10 yard line on a slant to Edwards; it's not clear if Edwards went full out and cut off the DB in time, causing the interception. After that, Romeo pulled Quinn and replaced him with Derek. Afterwards, he said he wanted to create a "spark" with the QB change.

It didn't work. Derek was 5-14 for 53 yards with an INT of his own.

Brady was clearly not happy with the benching. He mumbled something about "I didn't know I was on such a short leash". And why should he? Look at the leash Romeo gave Anderson this season.

The coach has one big role description - don't divide the locker room and be inconcsisntent. That's unfortunately what he is doing here. Look, the decision to bench Brady to provide a "spark" to win a game you had to have - that decision , in isolation, can be defended.

But - this season ended weeks ago with losses against Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Washington. If Romeo wanted to provide a spark:
- why not put Brady in when we scored 0 points vs. Pittsburgh in a key week 2 game?
- why not put Brady in after Anderson threw 2 second half interceptions in the 1st Baltimore game?
- why not put Brady in after 3 horrible quarters of football in the Washington game?
- and why not, when you are 3-4, put Brady in when your offense had 5 consecutive 3 and outs against Baltimore in the 2nd half?

And that's not to mention Braylon Edwards. Why aren't we benching him? Or our linebackers? Or our DBs?

The double standard here - leaving us to suffer with Derek for 8 weeks, yet pulling Brady after 2 3/4 games - is astounding. It is uncalled for - and now it can harm the long term development of Quinn.

Once he made the deicision to go to Brady, you had to leave him in and get him experience. You can't pull him at the first sign of a bad performance - you have to take the growing pains.

He needed to be fired yesterday; he wasn't. I expect the odds are 100-1 against him returning for a fifth season with the Browns in 2009.

NFL Week 12: Scott Green

Cleveland! Houston! The matchup screams intensity, history, and so much hate between the two teams.

OK, no it doesn't. It is probably the blandest opponent we play in terms of a "rivalry". I don't even know if I hate the Texans or not.

So, with this vanilaa matchup on tap, why not a vanilaa referree? Scott Green became a head ref in 2004 - and I don't think he has made an impact on anyone's memory - good or bad. Just the way refs are supposed to be.

I will be up there for the game on Sunday with Freddie - I've already picked out his 7 layers that he will be wearing at the game. I hope he doesn't freeze.

NYJ 24, Ten 23. OK, I believe. This is the week they lose.

Chi 24, StL 13. The Rams are bad. Real bad.

Mia 17, NE 16. I just don't think Cassel can deliver a comeback again within the division.

Buf 27, KC 20. The Chiefs have no D. None. And how about Dick Jauron's coaching at teh end of the Monday Night game? "A 47 yarder into swirling wind? No, we don't need any more yards, thanks."

Min 24, Jax 16. I think people underestimate how poor this Jaguars team is. What do they do well?

TB 19, Det 10. Do I have to comment?

Dal 24, SF 23. I think SF is going to show something for Mr. Singletary over the next few weeks. Dallas struggled to win over an overrated Redskin team.

Phi 24, Bal 17. Nobody circles the wagons like...ok, I admit, this is a pick based on my hatred of the Ravens.

Den 30, Oak 10. How will Oakland score? Is Tuisasosopo the QB now?

Sea 23, Was 21. See above. Washington is overrated.

NYG 27, Arz 20. I think the Cardinals - and Warner - have problems under pressure.

Atl 23, Car 20, OT. A classic.

Ind 28, SD 20. The final nail in the coffin for the 2008 Chargers - and for Turner?

NO 31, GB 21. Why do people like GB in this game? Rodgers on the road?

Best bets: 15 of them. 6-9 last week; overall: 93-71-3.

NYJ +5.5

NYJ/Ten over 40.5

Chi -8

Chi/StL under 44

Mia/NE Under 42

Buf -3

Min +2.5

TB/Det under 42

SF +9.5

Phi +1.5

Den -9

Sea +3

NYG -3

Ind +2.5

NO +2.5

4 favorites, 7 underdogs, 1 over, 3 unders. I like the distribution there.

The best invention ever?

Don and Michele came over on Friday for dinner....good dinner, great wine (as usual). That evening, I think we saw a demonstration of the gratest invention ever.

But before we get to that, a gambling note....after dinner, we broke out the cards and chips and we introduced Don to the Ultimate Hold 'em Poker table game. I'm not so sure if Don likes the game - he lost approximately 19 hands in a row - but his wife was on fire.

What kind of streak was she on? Well, I dealt the cards, and she passed on betting before the flop. The flop came:

3d Kh 6d

Michele put 2x her bet in. The last two cards were:

5d 7d

4 Diamonds on the board. Don swore and flipped over his cards as he folded. I flipped over...the Ace of Diamonds. Sorry for your luck! Michele just smiled and calmly turned over the 4 of diamonds for the straight flush. That would have been a $250 winner on a $5 table.

In no more than 40 hands, I dealt a straight flush and 2 separate quads.

Anyway, Don then pulled out his iPhone and showed us Shazam. This is the iPhone app that can listen to 10 seconds of music and then return the title and the artist, as well as a method to purchase that tune for your iPhone.

OK, we thought, how well does this really work? We had the satellite radio playing on our DirecTV, so we held it up to the speaker - it was a Colbie Caillat song - and it listened for 10 seconds, then "processed", then presto! It came back with the song.

I was unimpressed. How hard can it be to recognize tunes the current top 20? Let me test it with my "eclectic" music taste. (you mean "grandmotherly" taste? -ed.) Oh quiet.

So I turned it to the Broadway station. It was playing "The Impossible Dream" from Man of La Mancha. We clicked on Shazam - it listened for 10 seconds....and presto! It came back with:

Man of La Mancha

Original Cast Recording, 1956

Whoa. We may have something here.

It was dead on for 5-6 songs in a row that were not common knowledge songs. Rap, Country, Easy Listening (or, as most say, "music for the dead") - it retrieved them all.

We even turned it to a station playing bad 80s Hair Music. It was playing some unrecognizable Great White song. It reached the instrumental part - and we activated Shazam at that point. Shazam listened for 10 seconds of the instrumental part of the song - no lyrics - and it came back with the right artist and title.

How? How can it do this? How? My mind is still baffled.

Twilight

So Carol and I went out to dinner last night to a place next to the local movie theater. I got off work early so we were there around 5:00pm. While walking past the movie theater, there were at least 50 girls camping out for tickets to something at the theater. Come to find out it was for that new vampire movie Twilight. Hmmm interesting. Then I go home and watch South Park which is spoofing Twilight, and then watch some weird clip on MTV where there are about 1,000 girls going bonkers over seeing a sneak preview of just the trailer of Twilight. Then this morning, the Wall Street Journal has a big preview of the movie.

What the hell is this all about? People going this crazy over vampires? Really?

Ah yes, this is our GM

I wonder if Layup responds to customer emails in this manner?

Gambling losses

This will start a series of "Which is worse" questions. Today is the which is worse:

1. Watching on TV a last second loss that cost you a big wager. Here you get to see replay after replay of

2. Following scores for 3 hours straight on the internet and you are winning by a small margin and then the last update on CBS Sportsline shows that your team didn't cover.

3. Checking a score once or twice during the game and thinking that you won, but then later going back and finding out that somehow, someway the other team covered.

I know that we all have great stories that fit into each of these categories. I will post my painful stories in the comment section.

Health Message for the day

It is truly an exhausting ordeal to root for this team....

NFL Week 11: Pete Morelli

It was one year ago when a conscientious official decided to make sure a call on a FG attempt was right, as that call could impact a team's season. Everyone remembers Phil Dawson's ricochet FG at the end of last year's Ravens-Browns game, a 51-yd FG that would tie the game. The ball hit the upright, fell down and then hit the stachion and bounced back onto the field of play.

The idiots underneath the goalposts said it was no good, but Mr. Morelli got a bunch of people together to discuss; he may or may not have also called someone with a video upstairs (which, last year, would have been illegal). After 5 minutes, he said the FG was good, which caused mass chaos on the field. TV Reporters were interviewing players on the field when the announcement came that the game would resume. Here's a highlight clip from WBAL (see the :43 mark).

So here's to you, Pete Morelli. Can you save our season this year with a clutch call on Monday night?

Min 20, TB 17. Peterson is looking better and better.

NYG 30, Bal 21. I'm begrudingly impresses by Flacco and the controlled passing game of the Ravens.

Mia 27, Oak 10. Who is worse? 2000 Browns or 2008 Raiders? The Browns wouldn't be within 17 points for a line for these types of games. So why are the Raiders only getting 10?

NO 31, KC 20. New Orleans is desperate. Desperate teams find ways to win.

Ind 27, Hou 19. I think Indy is ready to explode.

GB 23, Chi 13. GB has had a tough last 2 games. They'll be ready for the mediocre Bears.

Phi 27, Cin 21. Why do I do this to myself? Why do I think the Bengals will show up after the bye?

Car 27, Det 13. Do I have to comment?

Atl 26, Den 16. Look, if Denver plays a half decent defense, they will lose. They are so one-dimensional. I wish the Browns had a mastermin defnseive coach that could scheme against a simple one-dimensional team like this.....oh, wait....

Sea 24, Az 20. Yes, Hasselbeck makes that much of a difference.

SF 20, StL 13. What's the over/under on the number of seconds it will take for Mike Martz to be fired after season's end?

Pit 27, SD 16. I don't see the Steelers losing this one - at home - in a game they need to win.

Ten 24, Jax 17. Jax has lost to us and the Bengals. Tennessee should dominate them.

Was 20, Dal 19. Romo will help, but Washington is the better team.

Best bets: 14 of them today (0-1 on Thursday). Last week: 9-6. Overall: 87-62-3.

(NYJ/NE under 40.5. Nice one, Eric).

Min +4

Bal/NYG over 40.5

Mia -10

NO -5.5

GB -3.5

Chi/GB under 43.5

Cin +9

Phi/Cin over 41

Atl -6.5

Den/Atl under 51

Sea +3

StL/SF under 43.5

Pit -5

Ten -2.5

6 favorites, 3 underdogs, 2 overs, 3 unders.

Sad News today

Herb Score, the long time play-by-play announcer for the Indians in the 70s, 80s and 90s, has died.

We all have our favorite baseball radio announcers growing up. I was lucky enough to be in Baltimore for middle school and high school and loved to listen to the polished broadcasts of Joe Angel and Jon Miller. When I went to Cleveland for college, however, I got Herb doing the Tribe games. I think it is safe to say that Miller and Score have completely opposite announcing styles.

I grew to love Herb and his low-key, minimalist style. It was a running joke between Janice and I when we were down here in Cincinnati and I would search the radio for the Tribe broadcast from Cleveland. We would stop on what I thought was 1100 AM and hear silence for 3-5 seconds. Was this the broadcast or jst dead air?

"Low, ball 3" bellowed a voice out of the darkness to interrupt the quiet.

Steve and I did a pretty good impersonation of the Tribe annoucing team in the 90s - me as the happy go lucky Tom Hamilton, and Steve as Herb. I'll haev to dig that tape out from a box.

I think the ultimate coincidence is that the last call Herb made on the radio was Game 7 of the 1997 World Series. The Lord could have sent Herb out on the ultimate high note, but no, that was not in the cards for Herb. It never was.

NFL Week 10: Bill Leavy

I'm still not over Thursday Night's debacle. Here's the ref for that game, Bill Leavy.....he's not responsible in any way for the collapse; this is like venting at the police officer who comes over to file the report after you've been the victim of a crime.

The quick rundown for today:

Hou 24, Bal 20

NYJ 30, StL 17

Buf 23, NE 20, OT

Min 27, GB 20

Mia 24, Sea 13

Jax 23, Det 16

Ten 20, Chi 13

Atl 31, NO 24

Car 24, Oak 3

SD 31, KC 10

Pit 27, Ind 19

NYG 27, Phi 24, OT

Az 27, SF 16

Best bets: 15 this week. Last week: 7-8. Total: 78-56-3

Hou pk

NYJ -8.5

Buf +3.5

Min -2

Mia -8

Ten -3

Atl -1

Car -12

Car/Oak 37.5

SD -15

KC/SD under 47

Pit -4.5

Pit/Ind over 39

NYG +3

NYG/Phi over 42.5

Boy, I don't like that streak of 6 favorites in a row in that list....

The Mighty Quinn!

No live blog tonight, but the phone will be on as Brady makes his debut tonight.

Great Day for Chickens!!

So some interesting things going on out here. We had 10 props on our ballot ranging from requiring farmers to have enough space for chickens to stretch their legs (passed) to a bullet train from LA- San Fran (passed) to a $10,000 credit when you purchase a hybrid vehicle (failed). But the big ticket item was gay marriage...prop 8.

I'm sure its national news now, but prop 8 was passed which means that it bans gay marriage. This was a huge surprise since the polling just a day before showed it being rejected by 18%. Ahhh, was it just bad polling, or was this actually the Bradley effect that was intended to hit Obama, but really it was prop 8.

Another interesting stat that was just released was the Asians and Whites were slightly in favor of voting no against the prop, but Blacks and Hispanics were in favor of passing the bill by a 70-30 margin. Hmmm, so the excitement driven by Obama and the large turnout actually hurt prop 8's passing. Terrible research by the prop 8 team.

Now on the local news you are seeing the protesters of Prop 8 are all holding up Obama signs. Um...why would they be doing this? The common comments are stating that its hatred coming from the conservative base in the state that voted this bill in. First, Obama came out against gay marriage and the majority of his backers in CA are also against it. Also, how does Obama carry the state 61%-37% but yet the bill gets passed 52%-48%? There is an easy link to make, which I don't think the local media wants to make or are too dumb to make.

President Obama

This truly is an historic night for the United States. Barack Obama has been elected as our President.

I don't want to belabor what this means for the issue of race in our country. Better writers and thinkers will expound upon this in the near future. But I'm heartened to see that idealism - in any form, liberal or conservative - can succeed even in this cynical environment.

People - probably even me, if we read the archives - said that there's no way he could beat the Clinton machine for the Democratic nomination. He successfuly read the mood and the needs of the voters, and ran a great campaign to win the nomination.

Sure, he partly benefitted from luck and the terrible environment for Republicans. But he certanly capitalized on that and seemed to be in touch with what the voters were feeling and wanting. This is at least 50% of being a successful politician - and in being a leader.

He also embodies American freedom and the notion that individuals can create their own destiny. His election validates what we tell all of our children: "you can grow up to be anything you want to be". This is a great example for all of our youth.

Some of you may remember this post from 2007 after the Red Sox beat the Indians in the ALCS. That post was, oh, 99% insincere. This post here is completely the opposite. I wish Obama well, and hope that he truly is a "uniter, not a divider".

I will continue to disagree with most of his policies and will call him (and his party) on when he is not walking the talk. But for now, I salute Obama and his supporters and hold him as an example of what makes America great.

Election blog

Here we go! I'm here in a hotel room in Boston watching the results come in. Instead of the famous multi-colored whiteboards that I create for the election, I'm tracking the election on various bits of paper.

Stay with us here for my latest thoughts on the races - all races - tonight; not just the presidency but the Senate (will the Democrats get to 60?), House, Governor, and the all-important ballot issues such as ISSUE 6 in Ohio - the Casino issue.

Let's try to have comments on this live blog, ok? I don't want to feel like I am talking to a wall...

7:05: McCain wins KY, Obama wins VT. McCain went for 2 and got it; Obama settled for a FG. McCain leads, 8-3.

7:20: NBC News projects the Democrats keep control of the House. How? How do they do that? I'm serious. How can they call that so early?

7:35: This is the slow time of the election. The anticipation is here - polls are closing - but nothing can be called. Argh. If they call Ohio soon, it's over; the longer the delay is in calling Ohio, the better it is for McCain.

One big Senate race being counted right now is the KY Senate race - Sen Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is neck and neck right now (49-49) with 15% in. If this stays tight, then that's a good sign for Democrats nationwide. However, I remember this happening in KY 4 years ago - the late KY votes to be counted are usually the rural votes, reliably Republican. If that's the same here, then McConnell may win by 5-8%, which is a good sign for Republicans.

7:40. Stop talking, Brit Hume. "McCain leads, 13-3, right now in the electoral vote, although we suspect that will change - and soon." Oh really, Sherlock? The defense won't hold?

7:45: Room service is here!
First course: Spinach salad
Main course: 9" Supreme Pizza
Dessert: Strawberry Shortcake
A glass of Pinot Grigio
and a 500 ml bottle of Pellegrino.

That's a good informal survey question. Sparkling water: justifiable indulgment or waste of money and taste buds? You decide....

7:52: Is Snoop Dogg joking here in this clip? You decide....

8:05: The 8 o'clock polls have closed; no surprises here. Obama now leads, 77-39.

Perils of Live TV: John King on CNN was playing with the big map behind him. He was look ing at Indiana and comparing the current vote vs. the 2004 vote totals. He said: "let's take a look at a random county", and clicked somewhere in the north of the state. The county came up:

"Koshiminko County"

King: "Uh, I'm not even going to try that one....."

8:11: First big result of the night from the Senate: Elizabeth Dole (R) in North Carolina has lost. This was a seat the Democrats had to have if they wanted to get to 60 - and they did.

8:20: ABC News has called Pennsylvania for Obama, but no other station has not. I will wait.

Senate: McConnell, the Senate Minority leader, looks like he will win. That's a big one to stop the Dems from getting 60.

Right now, it's hard to see how they get there. If they win the rest of the toss ups (GA, NH, CO, OR, AK), even then they may not get there. I'll run the numbers.

8:33: Most stations have called Pennsylvania for Obama. That's great news for Obama, not good news for the Rep.

Also, New Hampshire Senate is a pickup for the Dems - John Sununu has lost.

8:39: McCain has won Georgia. That's a fairly good sign for the Republicans; the fact that it was called this early (relatively early) for McCain means that it probably won't be a cealn sweep (like 350 votes) for Obama.

8:57: Well, it's hard to see how McCain gets to 270 without Pennsylvania. This means - I think - he needs to pick up a Obama state somewhere to have any sort of a chance. To win, McCain needs to sweep the Bush states still out - OH, VA, IN, FL - and then somehow pick up MN? OR?. This is becuase NH has already been called for Obama (a Bush state), and it's pretty certain that IA will go to Obama.

If Minnesota is called early, then I think that Obama will win, and it should be called right at 11 pm.

9:07: Well, the 9:00 votes are in, and there are no surprises. Obama wins Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan; McCain wins states like Wyoming and Arkansas.

Counts are all over the place right now, Fox has Obama at 163 and NBC has it at 177; once we get to 215, that's the magic number before California. California is 55 and is certain to go to Obama.

So - if Virginia and Ohio go to Obama soon, then it's all over.

Popular vote: Obama 12, 315,854; McCain 12, 232,192. Amazingly close popular vote at this point.

9:20: Fox News has called Ohio for Obama. Wow. That about does it. I wonder how this will trickle down to Steve Chabot - the rep in the 1st district in Cincinnait - and Don's girlfriend, Jean Schmidt.

But, as of 9:20, Fox is the only station to call Ohio. CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC has not yet.

9:28: Now NBC has called Ohio for Obama.
Let's take a look at the Senate:
At this time, the Dems have 52 seats. Here are the seats that are still out there:
CO (could be a pickup)
LA (Landrieu, the only Dem incumbent even reomtely in trouble)
MN (Stuart Smalley)
IA (Harkin will win)
MT (Baucus)
OR (Gordon Smith, a Rep, is in a toss up)
AK (Indicted Rep Senator Ted Stevens)
MS, 2nd seat (Wicker/Musgrove:Can they pick this one up? A long shot)

The Dems need to win all 8 to get to 60. I guess it could happen, but I think they will lose by 2 (and lose MS and OR).

9:34: I see some in the comments section are popping the martinis. I don't blame you. I think it's time for me to break into my strawberry shortcake.

9:41: Still 50 people in line in Miami-Dade county polling booths. Who thinks that Florida will be called soon? Not me. This is 1 1/2 hours after the polls officially closed - people have been waiting in line since 8:00.

9:44: I will try not to be bitter tonight about media bias, but I want this to be duly noted.

When NJ closed at 8 pm, it was immediately called for Obama.
When GA closed at 7 pm, it was called for McCain at 8:39 , almost 100 minutes after closing.

Results so far:

NJ: Obama 55, McCain 44 (+11)
GA: McCain 59, Obama 40 (+19)

both with > 50% reporting.

Watch GA and SC and how (non) close they are. These are states that were not called immeiately for McCain. Compare that to states that were immediately called for Obama.

9:57: What is with CBS News? At the bottom of the screen, they have the raw popular vote totals for McCain and Obama. It seems to be updated every second - so the numbers move very quickly. And - peculiarly - the numbers seem to move backward every once in a while....from (for example) 13, 415,679 to 13,142, 234.

Is it a random number generator? Is it the vote display that was used in the Love Connection back in the 80's? 78%-22&-15%-45%....

(now I bet you have that sound effect in your head...doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-dooooooo)

10:10: The Ohio Casino Amendment has failed. Argosy, and other Indiana casinos, have bought this election and defeated a casino for Ohio. You dumb fuck Ohio voters.

Also, the payday lending restriction issue has passed. This caps the annual interest rate for "payday" loans to 28% annually - basically, if you borrow $100 now, you will pay no more than $101 in 2 weeks. Effectively, this will put all of the payday lenders in Ohio out of business.

So 5,000 people will be put out of work by shutting down the payday lenders, and we didn't want to creat 6,000 jobs with the casino. Maybe I should move to Indiana.

10:16: Two bad pieces of news from the House: Chris Shays, a Republican from Connecticut, has been defeated; this means there is no Republican House members from New England (VT, NH, ME, CT, RI, MA). None.

John Murtha, the "fat bastard" Democratic congressman from Western Pa who called some of his consistuents "racists" and then - while apologizing, called them "rednecks", has been re-elected.

10:35: Michael Barone, the smartest political mind on television, says that Florida "looks awfully good for Obama" right now. It's not called yet, but most of the remaing precinct are in Dade and Broward coutnies - and obviously, those are going to go to Obama.

10:42: Fox has called Virginia for.....Obama. This is a signficant development, not only for this year but as a prelude to a possible political realignment for the future. There is no question that Virginia is gaining population and will continue to grow; if teh Democrats can consolidate their gains in the Sun Belt states like VA and NC, this could set the stage for Dem dominance over the next several years.

10:55: I'm sorry if this is insensitive, but why is Luke Russert on TV? His dad was great - absolutely. This does not mean his 20-something year old son is qualified to talk about "the youth vote" on TV.

10:57: Senate update: Yes, it is still possible for the Dems to get 60, but it's looking tough. Landrieu - the only D senator in a real competitive race - is only up 2 in Louisiana, and Wicker in MS (the Reupblican) has a 10% lead with 25% left. It's not called, but....if either of those go to the R's, then 60 is unreachable.

10:58: 2 minutes until Obama is pronounced President at 11:00 Eastern.

11:00. Barack Obama has been elected as the 44th President of the United States. I'll have more about this in an upcoming blog post.

ABC announced it, and loud claps were heard in the newsroom when Charlie Gibson made the statement. That was unprofessional.

Mr. Obama, that's not change...

This is!

Before we get started on election blogging, I (and many, many Browns fans) am overjoyed at the change of our starting QB.

Thursday night - 8:00 - NFL Network. Quinn 147, Denver 0.

Election Eve Prediction/Lines

OK folks, post your predictions here!

Here are the lines for tomorrow - so post your predictions or post what you think are good wagers considering these lines.

Electoral Vote Count
Obama -93.5
McCain +93.5

Popular Vote Percentage
Obama -5.8
McCain +5.8

Money Line
Obama -800
McCain +650

Popular Vote Proposition - Total of Barr and Nader Vote Combined
Over 3.4%
Under 3.4%

Total Democratic Seats in Senate - after Tuesday Night
Over 57.5
Under 57.5

(Current Total: 51. Total will include Sanders (I-VT) and Lieberman (I-CT).

Total Democratic Seats in House - after Tuesday Night
Over 264.5
Under 264.5

(Current total: 235, with 1 vacancy).

My thoughts: Obama will win, handily but not a huge landslide. Something like 310-228. He'll win by 5%.