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....

My biggest fight yet

Hi everyone - usually at this time of year, this blog would be filled with posts getting ready for our annual Vegas trip in March, and the ensuing diaries of the hijinks from the 5 day trip.

However, as many of you know, there won't be a Vegas trip in March this year as I have encountered some health issues.

Again, many of you know this - but for some that have not heard, I was having some stomach issues in December and January where it was painful to eat. I went to a GI specialist for an endoscopy on January 18 - and the results were completely shocking - I had stomach cancer. More tests showed that the cancer had spread to lymph nodes and the liver.

I have started chemo on Feb 5 - don't want to bore everyone with the details here - and now doing the second round this week. The first round went pretty bad with respect to the side effects; we think we have adjusted the medicine somewhat to alleviate those side effects. It seems to be working better so far.

I want to thank many of you for your support, references, contacts for second/third opinions, visits and thoughts during this time. Janice and I have set up a Caring Bridge site that we will use for frequent updates; I encourage all of you to join the site to keep updated on my fight; here's the website:

https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ericsfight/

We'll beat this and soon we can get back to Vegas stories, daffy NFL picks and maybe a repeat performance in the 2018 SuperContest. Thanks again to all of you that have helped tremendously so far. 

And on a light hearted note - here's my best friend in the beverage aisle; since I have been able to eat again I have had a craving for Hawaiian Punch. I've been living off of this for 2 weeks now...so good!

NFL Week 17: Don Criqui, Bob Trumpy

And for our finale, the announcing duo in focus this week is ...Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy! For any Browns fan over the age of, oh, 40, these two were the TV voice of the Browns in the 80s. Browns games were always on NBC; Dick Enberg (the #1 announcer for NBC) was rarely assigned to Browns games, and Charlie Jones only did West Coast games. So we always seemed to get the #2 team for NBC in the mid- and late- 80s.... and that was Criqui and Trumpy.

Criqui and Trumpy worked together for 5-6 years, and they were a classic team. Both midwesterners (Criqui is a native of Buffalo, and I count that as the midwest; Trumpy was born in Illinois and played for the Bengals.

Let's start with Criqui: it's just amazing how many big moments Criqui announced in his career. His NFL TV broadcasting career spanned 47 seasons....47!!!!! 1967-2013. That's a record that I hope never gets broken, especially not by Nantz.

Some of the big moments that were covered by Don's voice:

1970:  Tom Dempsey's 63 yard field goal for the Saints (for you young un's, this was a record that stood unmatched for 40+ years):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD9giDCLXFE

1981: Another NCAA tournament clip! Criqui has been around so long, he has clips from the NCAA tournament when he was with NBC! This is the end of one of the biggest upsets in history, St. Joe's over DePaul---- and where was this played? Only in the greatest NCAA tournament venue ever created.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKquUz-3Jq0

(Go to the 1:32:00 mark for the end)
(and how about the crazy SportsWorld promo at around 1:32:30....have to watch this....All-Ireland Hurling championships!)

And he was the voice of the 1984 Orange Bowl - a classic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoNs0mdKAO8

(I have to say that Criqui's signature lines in those last two game... "Look at this! LOOK AT THIS!" needed a little work).

Trumpy was a 10 year tight end for the Bengals for most of the 1970s; he quickly moved into broadcasting, hosting a local sports show on 700 WLW in Cincinnati ("heard in 38 states and most of Canada!") before going to NBC full time. He worked NFL, obviously, but also did Olympic coverage and commentary for the PGA tour!

I can't find any clips of Trumpy doing PGA work; he was a tower announcer for 6 years for NBC. Amazing. This means his last work with NBC in 1996 would be calling one of the most forgettable Opens in history - the Steve Jones win. That was NBC's first US Open, I think. Here's the recap- sorry, no Trumpy sightings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtYoRV8NQKk

As Browns fans, we were convinced Trumpy hated us. We looked for any sign of bias available with his color commentating. How dare you critique Bernie's delivery! You can't second-guess Lindy Infante!!! You are a moron! Those are words I yelled frequently in the late 80s, and I think my Dad did too. But looking back, he was as unbiased as could be.

Trumpy did move into the #1 color position for NBC with Enberg in the mid 90s, doing a couple of Super Bowls for NBC. He's like fine wine - gets better as the time goes by.

Now, some classic Browns clips with these two:

1: 1986 - Key Browns/Bengals matchup in Week 14. Bring back this theme music, NBC!
(And as Layup mentioned when he saw this clip - how did we allow live tigers in cages on football fields?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zmj-WE1Abss&t=1s

2. In my mind, the greatest NFL playoff game ever. Period. Browns-Jets, Jan 1987. Thank you Mark Gastineau.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO_vBN2oMak&t=78s

3. You thought today's refs are bad? How about the end of the Browns-Oilers wild card game in Jan, 1989? How many onside kicks is a team allowed? We pick it up with the Browns kicking off, down 24-23, with :31 left....I think this game changed the rules for on-side kicks in the NFL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQwJFQ3iyPg&t=462s

Speaking of onside kicks - the last NFL game Criqui ever did was the robbery in New England - New England 27, Cleveland 26, in late 2013. We were up 12 with 1:15 left and lost.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH347DQ0_r0


On to the games:

Det 27, GB 24. Hundley can't let his career end with that dud at home vs. Minnesota .He's playing for reputation, and how motivated are the Lions?

Ind 27, Hou 10. Who is the QB for the Texans? And I think Brissett is decent enough to score in the home finale for the Colts.

Min 26, Chi 13. The VIkes will call off the dogs at halftime against the overmatched Bears.

NE 30, NYJ 13. Was thinking that the Jets will keep this close, but I don't think Belicheck will let the Jets get any confidence going into next year with a close game here.

Was 20, NYG 13. How motivated are either of these teams? Cousins still looks like he has something to play for, and the Giants D has checked out.

Dal 23, Phi 20.  What a mess both of these teams are. Foles looked awful on Monday - and the Cowboys looked even worse.

Atl 28, Car 20.  I'm not convince Carolina has it all figured out just yet, and the Falcons will find some magic at home to make the playoffs.

Bal 24, Cin 13. The key to handicapping Ravens games: how many TDs will the defense score? If the answer is zero, then the Ravens won't cover.

Mia 24, Buf 20. Not at a point where I can trust the Bills on the road just yet. But am I really confident in Cutler?

NO 20, TB 14. Still not sold with the Saints on the road. And I continue to believe TB already played their best game 2 weeks ago vs. Atlanta.

Ten 24, Jax 16.  I just can't see the Jags being motivated here; they will see running, running and more running from the Titans - and in the cold, how long will the Jags fight?

Den 19, KC 16. Mahomes! Lynch! Ugh. Could not care less.

SF 27, LAR 24. Just don't see McVay as the type of coach to willing lay down vs. a division opponent. I know Jimmy G is a popular pick here....

LAC 30, Oak 20. Lots of points expected here, especially with the Raiders' awful defense.

Sea 31, Az 17. Arizona is awful - having been involved in their last 5 games (I think). Seattle is desperate and this game should be full of trick plays on both sides.

Best bets: 15 of them. Last week: 8-7; overall: 123-94-6
GB +6.5
GB/Det over 44
Ind -3.5
Was -3
Was/NYG under 40
Dal/Phi over 40
Atl -3.5
Mia +2.5
NO/TB under 49
Ten -3
SF/LAR over 44
LAC -7
Oak/LAC over 42.5
Sea -8.5
Az/Sea over 38.5

Supercontest: Last week: 3-2; overall: 50-27-3
GB +6.5
Ind -3.5
Cle +11 (stale line; had to do it)
Atl -3.5
Ten -3

NFL Week 17 Anagram

Here is your final anagram for the season! A grand finale!

Q: NY Bimbo - DUI. Corrupt?

This could be something written in the transcript in an Albany court case, asking if the defendant  who was charged with intoxication is trying to bribe the police. However, rearrange these letters to form what broadcasting duo that are forever linked?

(Yes, I know they are both not dead)

Your hint: It's a duo! But if you need more, just think...the Browns and the 80s.....

NFL Week 16: Gus Johnson

This week's announcer in focus: Gus Johnson!

Boy, I think the NFL really needs to get Gus Johnson back into the fold. How do we convince FOX that Gus should be freed from NCAA duties and thrown back into doing the NFL for Fox full time? I mean, have you listened to Kenny Albert? I have...he's awful. Kenny can't even tell you the correct down or distance half the time. Gus is 10x better than that.

Anyway - some history on Gus; he grew up in Detroit as a three-star athlete for his high school; he ended up going to Howard University in DC with a political science degree - but then quickly went into broadcasting.

His first listed job was being the host for Black College Sports Today on ESPN in 1991 - and during the early 90s, he moved around a few times in the south before ending up on Channel 5 in Washington for the weekend sports anchor gig. In 94, he started doing some play by play for the Knicks on both radio and TV. CBS signed him in 1995.

The next year, in 1996, some absolutely genius at CBS heard Gus and said "you know what? You would be great to represent the passion and energy of the NCAA tournament. Why don't you become our play by play announcer for our #8 team?". And there started the legend of Gus Johnson.

His first session broadcasting the NCAA - I remember this so clearly - was the Friday session for the 1st and 2nd round games in Indianapolis. The last game of the day was defending champion UCLA against Princeton in a 4-13 game. Any fan of the tournament over 40 years old can recite the score of that game....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYd9Tqiy-z8

That was his first year! Wow. Where do you go from there? Well, only to be the voice of some of the most dramatic moments of the early rounds of the tournament. Nantz and Packer can have their stay in Charlotte for the Duke/UNC invitational every year in round 1 and 2; let's get real announcers to Dayton/Boise/Oklahoma City/Worcester for real action and drama.

Because I love to waste your time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbFNFHsNo3w   (This will gave Mike A pains)

The Gonzaga run fueled by Gus, with Wiz's favorite Dan Bonner on the color:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez8AgrNKtwQ
The slipper still fits!

This collapse, which Layup heard the screaming from the sportsbook in his room 7 floors up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tICZv1wh53c
(start at the 3:30 mark if you want)

And then of course, this game....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt0VUSyVIr4

Here's the best of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B08Km6sV3pk&t=5s

Ugh, where do I go from there? He was at CBS until 2011, where there was a contract dispute and as a result, he left CBS for FOX. At FOX, they tried to make him a soccer announcer. Does it work?  I will have to defer to the soccer fans that read this blog...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk5e8xRkT1g

Yes, he does some NCAA football games and basketball on FS1, but it's just not the same. It's not.
Hey CBS - if you are able to get Raftery freed up from Fox to do NCAA tournament games, you can do the same for Gus. Cmon. We don't need Spero doing a 5-12 game in March. Can you imagine if Gus did the Purdue - Little Rock game last year?

So Gus has about 10-15 years of NFL games under his belt for CBS; surprisingly, there's little footage of him doing Browns game. The two memorable ones: First, a very important game in 2007 (the magical season) when the Browns were at home playing the Bills in a blizzard. All I can find are the local calls for this game, but this was a very important 8-0 win for the Browns to keep their hopes alive. Gus Johnson was on the national call that I watched with Layup in a bar in LA.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lV2ZzY_ph0&t=35s

But the main legacy of Gus for Cleveland was a 2001 game vs. Jacksonville. Do I have to go through the details here? Third year back for the Browns, we were 7-7, driving for the winning touchdown..... we complete a 4th down pass, then spike the ball on 1st down....and then Terry McAulay decides to review the 4th down pass.....pandemonium ensues.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-teMkx2vgA&list=PL393z5zOOKHQ1tw-o0LYKMAH6VwYfuCM-

I still hate McAulay.

On to the games this week:

Car 27, TB 13. Carolina is still motivated and the Bucs' Super Bowl was last week, Monday night at home. Can't see the effort from Tampa here, amid reports of issues in the locker room.

Det 31, Cin 24.  How can you trust the Bengals? I think both teams throw the playbook out and heave the ball downfield hoping for PI penalties.

KC 27, Mia 16. Not thinking that Cutler can keep this one that close on the road against a KC team that is slowly getting better.

NE 27, Buf 17. How hard do the Patriots want to play? Buffalo just doesn't have the weapons to keep up.

NO 30, Atl 17. The Saints are still pissed after losing that Thursday night game 2 weeks ago; they shot themselves in the foot, mostly. The Saints run game will have a field day.

LAC 23, NYJ 20. I think the Jets have one more full-effort game in them, against a team that I'm not convinced is well coached.

LAR 24, Ten 23. The Rams run D is average, at best, and the Titans will take advantage. However, the Titans pass D is horrific - and Goff should find all sorts of open receivers.

Was 23, Den 16. Let's stop crowing about the Broncos. They beat the Jets at home (without McCown) and the Colts. Was still has a good D.

Jax 23, SF 16. I don't think Jimmy G has seen a pass D like Jacksonville just yet. Let's calm down a bit before we anoint Garrapolo.

Az 27, NYG 17. Like TB above, the Giants had their Super Bowl for 2 weeks at home vs. Dallas and Philly. Now on the road? Against a good Arizona D? How do they score?

Dal 27, Sea 24. Seems obvious for the Cowboys here - but it's Dallas. You never lay points with the Cowboys.

Pit 24, Hou 23. Pit, on the road, against an inferior opponent. Haven't we seen this movie several times this year?

Phi 27, Oak 10. The Eagles still need to play hard to get Foles confidence - and the D needs to put on a good performance. And, again, the Raiders' Super Bowl was last week vs. Dallas.

Best bets this week: 15 of them. Last week: 10-3-2; overall: 115-87-6

Car -10
TB/Car under 46.5

Det -3

Det/Cin over 44.5

NO -5.5

Atl/NO under 52.5

NYJ +6.5

Ten +6

Was -3

Jax -4

Az -3

NYG/Az over 39

Hou +9

Phi -9

Oak/Phi under 47

Supercontest picks: Last week: 3-1-1; overall: 47-25-3

Car -10

NO -5.5

Az -3.5

Hou +9

Phi -8.5

NFL Week 16 Anagram

Here's our anagram for the Week 16 announcer:

Hug Jon's Son!

This is what I will do when I see Mr. Schmitt's youngest son, as we share the greatest birthday on earth (along with Rod Stewart) - but rearrange these letters to form the name of what announcer?

Your hint: It's the Christmas season, so I will make it easy. Miller Lite bottles.

NFL Week 15: Jim Nantz

This week's announcer in focus: our good friend Jim Nantz!
 
Not much introduction for Nantz is really needed, is it? Nantz was born in Charlotte (actually, that explains a lot about his bias in the NCAA tournament) , lived in New Orleans and ended up in high school in New Jersey. He went to college at the University of Houston - majoring in broadcasting and playing on the golf team. Who was on the golf team with him those years? Freddie Couples; Couples and Nantz were roommates for most of his college career. Nantz recounted a time in college when he and Couples were sitting around one day; Couples said he was going to win the Masters in the future, and Nantz pipes in: "And I'll be there to announce your win!". So it was clear early on what Nantz's goals were.

(Note: Blaine McCallister - another PGA Tour member in the 80s and 90s - was also on that team).

His first jobs out of school were working Houston and Salt Lake as a sports broadcaster; Nantz joined CBS in 1985 and almost immediately went to the forefront of CBS Sports. I won't recount his whole history at CBS - we all know it - but it's amazing how quickly he became the face of CBS in the late 80s. he started with golf and NCAA basketball/football; he was leading NCAA studio shows in his 2nd year and then was in the 18th tower for CBS's golf towers in 1989. He was doing NFL games in the early 90's, went to host NFL Today when CBS re-gained the NFL package and then went back into the announcing booth in 2004 and became the #1 announcer then. We'll get to the NFL in a second....

....but first, some trips down memory lane. Here is our hero doing a promo for the '86 Masters - which would be his first Masters broadcast. Nantz lays out the importance of Amen corner and recaps the disaster that befell Curtis Strange in '85.....handing the green jacket to Bernhard Langer.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcObgJ1UMeo

(Note 1: If Strange doesn't falter, Langer doesn't get on the cover of Golf Digest in late '85....and a young golfer in Maryland who was struggling with his putting would not read an article on how cross-handed putting helped Langer.......yes, Langer was the inspiration for me to go cross-handed, and that was 32 years ago....32 years!)

(Note 2: I want that all-red outfit that Langer wore. How in the world did that go with the green jacket?)

So they put Nantz in the 16th tower in 1986....and, the rest, they say, is history. Nantz delivered probably the greatest setup to a historical shot ever - ever!!!! - and this clip still gives me goose bumps. He knew Nicklaus's history to perfection, set up Weiskopf, and the timing was perfect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqLiTrTiP0E

(note 3: How in the hell can Weiskopf joke about losing the Masters to Jack? That had to have been painful.....what a professional)

Since he led studio shows for NCAA, he was the first face we saw at 6:00 pm on the second Sunday of March for the selection show! Here's one from the archives - the 1987 show, with our gambling hero Brent and the old curmudgeon, Billy Packer, at his side.

I loved those 12' foot boards from "Kansas City" - before computers, this is how they really formed the bracket, right? Moving around pre-printed magnet labels of teams around the board to create the perfect bracket and the perfect path for Dean Smith and North Carolina? *

(* - sorry, my Maryland fandom is showing. They always got easy paths to the final four in the 80s. Pure fixing.....)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUIavVHt_qU

And one more for history - Nantz as the studio host for the last Olympics not televised by NBC...the 1998 Nagano Olympics, complete with the smarmy, drug-induced introduction of a flower growing in snow...It's a huge upset that we did not hear "Hello Friends...."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4_1ey4MGu8

What do I think about Nantz as an NFL announcer? I'm sorry to say, not much. He clearly favors the big teams and I think he's very unemotional. Here's exhibit A - and this has stuck with me for a while. Cleveland-Pittsburgh, 2007. Late November game, winner leads the division. Game at Heinz field. The Steelers just scored to go back ahead (18 unanswered! Nantz for sure points this out). And then the kickoff to the Browns...

Just imagine if Gus Johnson made this call. Ian Eagle.....Sam Rosen.....anyone but Nantz.
He made this sound like a routine 3rd down conversion....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q7w28cfSJ0

Cmon, be just a little excited....

And - found this beauty - Jeff Garcia with an epic performance against the Cowboys in 2004. This game was memorable for us as we scored late to get within one score (with :09 left, I think); then went for the on-side kick; and on the kick, Winslow injured his leg and was out for the year....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6uHaiJpTrE&t=147s

On to the games:

Buf 23, Mia 16. There has to be a letdown after the emotional Monday win for the Dolphins..

Car 23, GB 20. Just have no feel for this for Rodgers' first game. If Green Bay wins this and makes the playoffs, those Packers fans owe us Browns fans big time.

Jax 24, Hou 20. Talk about a letdown - can't imagine the Jags will play at the same level they did vs. Seattle. And Houston and Yates are motivated; Yatets is trying to show what he can do for next year.

Min 27, Cin 13. Cincy played 3 at home in a row, with the 2nd one being the Steelers collapse. Now they go on the road against a team off a loss, trying to gain top seed?

NO 26, NYJ 13. Can't see the Saints playing with much urgency here; they will do what they can to win and get out.

Phi 24, NYG 23. Just look at what the Eagles have been through! At Seattle, at the Rams - huge emotional games. Now 3rd road game in a row, without Wentz, and this is the Giants' Super Bowl.

Was 27, Az 16. Washington has too much pride to lay down at home, and I don't trust Gabbert on the road.

Sea 30, LAR 28. We all know the drill by now. Seattle falls behind, then passes for 532 yards in the 4th quarter to make it a one-score game. They seem to have the Rams' number.

NE 31, Pit 23. I'm convinced Belicheck had the Pats play possum last week, and the Steelers' pass D is awful now.

SF 24, Ten 17. Yes, ok, I'll ride the Jimmy G bandwagon. And my cynicism of the Titans is well known.

Dal 27, Oak 20. The Cowboys will stop th Raiders enough to win here.

Atl 20, TB 17. Tampa's Super Bowl, and Atlanta struggles this year playing outdoors.

Best bets: 15 of them. Last week: 11-5; overall: 105-84-4
Buf -3
GB/Car under 47
Hou +11
Hou/Jax over 38
Min -11
NYJ/NO under 47
NYG +7.5
Phi/NYG over 40.5
Was -4
LAR/Sea over 47
NE -2.5
SF -1
Dal -3
TB +6
Atl/TB under 49

Supercontest: Last week: 5-0; overall: 44-24-2
Hou +10.5
Min -10.5
NYG +7.5
Was -4
NE -3