NFL Week 8: Law And Order

For those of you who have been following my twitter account, I re-tweeted another apology from the NFL on a key call that went against the Browns. Last week (against the Bucs) was the head to head hit against Baker; a flag was thrown but then ultimately picked up after a lengthy discussion. Head referee Shaun Hochuli (yes, Ed's son) said that since Bake was a runner, he was not protected and head to head hits on him were legal.

Um, what?

The NFL had to issue an apology this week on this incorrect call and explanation. This is getting old. We had the false start non-call vs. the Chargers (a call that led to the Line Judge getting fired, mid-season, a first for the NFL in 50 years) and the Derek Carr strip that was ruled down in the Oakland game.

How do all these obvious calls go against us all the time?  There's a big issue with the Law in the NFL. I think we need Sam Waterson and Benjamin Bratt to be a lead ref for the NFL now....

Show: Law and Order

Network: Too Many to count

When: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on various channels

Main Characters: So many....Benjamin Stone, Adam Schiff, Jack McCoy, Abbie Carmichael, Lennie Brisco, Anita Van Buren, …

With my whining about the NFL Refs complete, there's no better week to review the Law and Order franchise! I won't go into the details of the show here - everyone should know it by now. In February, when I was in bed for 21 hours of the day, I could always count on some Law and Order show to be on at any point in time. It seems there are at least 8 cable networks that show re-runs of L&O:

- TNT
- Lifetime
- ID
- Paramount
- Sundance
- FYI

and maybe some others.

Try this for a gambling game when you are at home with your friends: at any moment, wager if there is a L&O show on cable at the moment. You'd win 80% of the time, I believe. It's 7:25 am on a Sunday morning right now - and yep! There it is! L&O on Sundance!

Here are some fun facts about L&O that I'll share with you, since we all know the plot and structure of the show:

- The original debuted in September, 1990. That's 28 years ago! That's crazy. I'm so old.
- L&O-SVU almost has as many episodes as the original! The original L&O has 456 episodes; SVU has 436. One more season for Ice-T and his franchise will take the lead!

- My personal favorite police character: Jerry Orbach. Did you know he was a broadway star in the 60s and 70s? I happened to hear him sing "Promises, Promises" on Sirius - what a voice! He was also the first person to sing the famous song "Try to Remember" on stage in the musical "The Fantastiks".
- Jerry was also on Super Password! I will have to find that episode on You Tube.

(and here it is! What a pairing for the guest stars...….whatever happened to her?)

- A close second for best Police character is S. Epatha Merkerson. She was on the show for 17 seasons - 395 episodes - longer than any other character. However, what was her first TV role? S. Epatha was first on TV as …….Reba the Mail Lady on Pee-Wee's Playhouse. Incredible.

- And I have a soft spot for the prosecutor Michael Moriarty. He was the first DA under Adam Schiff to start the series. Michael is an interesting character. He left the show after 4 years in 1994...he was suing Atty. General Janet Reno for comments she made about shows being violent. Moriarty said that Reno wanted to take not only L&O off the air, but also......Murder, She Wrote. Anyone who thinks someone is out to get Angela Lansbury has got to get an honorable mention here in the blog...

...oh yes, he announced in 2005 that he was running for president in 2008! I wonder what happened to that campaign.

OK, enough reminiscing. On to the games....

Phi 20, Jax 16.  We all talk about how Bortles can't run the Jags' offense, but the Eagles are struggling too. They are incapable of putting up a 30 spot. This may be closer than we think.

Bal 27, Car 17.  I continue to believer Carolina is a fraud, and it will show up here. Bal's defense will travel and they are pissed after losing last week.

Chi 27, NYJ 16. The Bears are a much better home team than on the road, and should be able to stop the Jets' running attack.

Cin 31, TB 24. Tampa is one-dimensional, and the Bengals should contain the Bucs' passing attack; Dalton should move the ball with ease to score 30+ points.

Sea 27, Det 24. Seattle's D is starting to get better and the bye helps; Detroit is giving up lots of points, 21 to Brock and Miami and should have lost to Green Bay (a very similar team to Seattle).

KC 31, Den 20. What to say about this? KC is unstoppable, and will score in the 30s; we saw this game before, and Denver threw everything at them and couldn't win.

NYG 24, Was 16. Washington has just won 2 games in a row at home; I don't see them winning 3. Barkley should get 100+ yards and the Giants will get their second win.

Ind 23, Oak 16. Got to see how the bye week helped/hurt the Raiders. I'm not convinced their offense is dead now that Cooper is gone- Cook will more than make up for it.

Az 20, SF 17. Maybe the Niners did leave everything on the field at Lambeau. 10 days for the Cardinals to prepare?

LAR 34, GB 23. The back door will be in play here - but the Rams D will contain the Packers' 1 dimensional offense. The Packers D is in dire straits.

NO 27, Min 24. What a great SNF game. I just think Minny's D is not quite good enough to stop the Saints, and the Saints have revenge on their mind.

NE 24, Buf 17. Let's be clear - Buffalo is not a bad home team, and their D is actually fairly decent. I think they contain the Pats somewhat and Derek Anderson will somehow get 17 points.

Best bets: 12 of them. Last week: 6-6; overall: 46-47-3
Phi/Jax under 44
Bal -2.5
Chi -9.5
Cin -3.5
Sea +3
Sea/Det over 48.5
NYG +1
Ind -3
Ind/Oak under 51
Az +1.5
LAR -8
Buf +14

Supercontest picks: Last week: 2-3; overall: 18-15-2
Bal -2
Chi -7
Sea +3
NYG pk
Buf +13.5