Flaming Doctor Pepper Shots

At Murphy's Downtown in Boca Raton last Saturday Night. The Bartender is Mike. You might want to lower the volume, the girl taking the video from her Treo 680 is a little loud.

Picks of the Day

I forget to post picks and of course go and have a pretty good week, including 6 of 7 NFL games, but who didnt get the SNF and MNF games. From the week before was down 895 hit the 3 team tease but lost the other 2 so down 1,015 Schrute Bucks. College Bball started a couple days ago, and Footballl is starting to be a regular occurrence (great CMU WMU game last night). I will try to get more frequent on picks of the day instead of the week.

Ohio -3 Akron

This is purely for fun. Gambling is illegal.

Not You Too Sportsline.com?

My disdain for espn.com is well known and documented, but I am not the only one. More and more lately I have gone to Sportsline.com to get my sports news and scores. Especially on my iphone and the safari browser, it is just easier to navigate to get scores than espn, which sometimes usually doesnt even seem to realize games are going on.

But today, i kind of got sick to my stomach, right on the homepage of sportsline was a countdown to the Patriots vs Colts regular season game. This may have been there for a while, i dont know. Seriously, this is a regular season game, in week 9 of a 16 game season, its not the Superbowl, or even the AFC championship, its a regular season game. Vegas has the game with a 6 point spread, so not even that close of a game (that has more to do with people betting, but still).

Can someone please tell me a good place to get sports news and scores, please.

8 Yrs since Walter Payton Passed Away

Thanks to the guys over at BearsHistory and their great blog to remind me that 8 yrs ago today "Sweetness" passed away. Growing up in Chicago, I was lucky to be in the same city as two of the most awe-inspiring athletes of mine or any generation, Walter Payton and Michael Jordan. I remember sitting in front of the TV watching Walter literally carry the Bears. The Bears of the Payton era were for the most part not good, but without Walter they would have been awful. The Bears offense consisted of 5 plays, Sweep to either side for Walter, Counter to either side with Walter or the occasional Halfback throw (8 career Passing TDS). The opponent knew what was happening, Walter was getting the ball 9 times out of 10 yet he still ran for an average of 4.36 yards per carry (16,726 yds on 3,838 carries). There is not a running back today or ever that is not influenced or inspired by what Walter did. Barry Sanders walked away from the game, so Walter's record could stand that much longer.

I could watch Walter Payton highlights all day long, especially taking off from the 3 or 4 yard line and go horizontal jumping over an entire offense and defensive line and landing a couple yds deep in the endzone. Unfortunately he played the days before sportscenter, the internet or the NFL ticket, living in Chicago I was blessed to have the opportunity to see him play every Sunday. The Youtube clips of his highlights would rival any other person in the history of sports.

He was a gentleman on and off the field, always with a kind word and soft heart. The words I or others have typed about him, will never do the man justice. I can't find the quote but at his public funeral at Soldier Field, the Reverend Jesse Jackson spoke, his eulogy went something like this, "On your tombstone, there is the date you are born, the date you die and a hyphen between them. Men are judged by what they do during that hyphen" Jesse Jackson then went on to describe the many humanitarian things Walter did and touching briefly on his on the field accomplishments. The NFL Man of the Year Award is named after Walter Payton and it "recognizes a player for his community service activities as well as his excellence on the field."

I could go on and on, but instead one more video, this one of just highlights, I have seen it dozens of times and will watch it dozens more.

RIP Sweetness

NBA Season Preview

Bears suck. Let's get the NBA season started. Just like BEP said. I know, the season started yesterday. I'm a busy man, get over it.

First, the Bulls.

The Bulls are at the center of the Kobe trade talks and, therefore, at the center of NBA news. In case you haven't been paying attention, here's a quick recap. Kobe wants out, his #1 choice appears to be Chicago, he has a no trade clause, Chicago won't include Luol Deng as part of the deal.

What does it all mean? It means the Lakers are screwed. The Bulls made some noise in the East last year. They're more experienced and improved this year. Without Kobe, most experts have them going to the Eastern Conference Finals. Why would they gut the team for Kobe? Answer: they won't and rightfully so. The Lakers are upset because Paxson is low-balling them. If I was Pax, I would be doing the same thing. Both Kobe and LA have created a terrible situation. Everyone knows Kobe wants to leave and the Lakers want to deal him. But Kobe has a no-trade clause. Thus, the Lakers are screwed. Allow me to state my bias now: I'm not a Kobe fan at all. Anyway, I would continue to low-ball trade offers for Kobe because the Lakers are the ones in a desperate situation, not the Bulls. In the end, I think Kobe doesn't get traded. But if so, it's not to Chicago. Paxson is a smart man.

OK, as a reminder, I know significantly less about the NBA than I do about the NFL. Nevertheless, here are my predictions:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic Division

1. New Jersey Nets

2. Boston Celtics

3. Toronto Raptors

4. New York Knicks

5. Philadelphia 76ers

Why am I not in love with Boston? No doubt, the Celtics are dramatically improved from where they were last year. KG, Ray Allen, and Pierce is nothing to sneeze at. But am I to expect what was arguably the worst team in the NBA last year to now win the East? That's a bit much. Plus, Boston's bench leaves much to be desired. The Nets are still solid and have their own big 3 with Kidd, RJ, and Vince.

Central Division

1. Chicago Bulls

2. Detroit Pistons

3. Cleveland Cavaliers

4. Indiana Pacers

5. Milwaukee Bucks.

The top 3 spots could go in just about any order. I think the Bulls look to be set up the best heading into the season. Detroit is old but still a good team. I don't have much faith in the Cavs outside of LeBron but I said the same thing last year. One or two injuries or key trades could make the difference here.

Southeast Division

1. Orlando Magic

2. Washington Wizards

3. Miami Heat

4. Atlanta Hawks

5. Charlotte Bobcats

The Magic are looking to build on last season's success with the "best big man in the East" Dwight Howard. The Wizards still have Arenas (for now) and a relatively solid squad to back him up. What is left of the Heat are old and fading and D-Wade can't save this sinking ship himself. I expect Shaq to be out at least 40% of the season with injuries as usual. The Hawks will be better and Horford will be awesome sooner rather than later. The "other" rookie Acie Law will contribute eventually as well. The Hawks look to have a promising future, it just isn't this season.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Southwest Division

1. San Antonio Spurs

2. Houston Rockets

3. Dallas Mavericks

4. New Orleans Hornets

5. Memphis Grizzlies

Never doubt the Spurs. This division is comparable to the Central in the East in that the top 3 could finish in just about any order. The Spurs know they don't have to finish in first place. They just need to get to the postseason. Then, the dominance will begin. I like Houston to improve this year with new coach Rick Adelman. McGrady is hungry and Yao Ming, well, agrees I guess. How much longer can the Mavs underachieve? Even if they win the division, are you picking them to go deep in the post-season?

Northwest Division

1. Utah Jazz

2. Denver Nuggets

3. Seattle Supersonics

4. Portland Trailblazers

5. Minnesota Timberwolves

The Jazz look like they can improve from last year and Deron Williams is a stud. Jerry Sloan is probably the best coach yet to win a championship. This team made waves in the playoffs last year and I expect them to do it again. The Nuggets have the tools in Iverson, Carmelo, and K-Mart and another great coach in George Karl. They still need to prove they can make it all work. There's a lot of room between these two teams and the other 3. The NBA wants you to care about the Sonics and Blazers because of Durant and Oden but, unfortunately, these are below-average teams in crappy markets and Oden isn't even playing this year.

Pacific Division

1. Phoenix Suns

2. LA Lakers

3. Golden State Warriors

4. LA Clippers

5. Sacramento Kings

OK, so the Suns are the obvious choice here. I'm not sure why I have the Lakers so high. The distractions are many, and a Kobe trade certainly changes things. For some reason, I think Kobe stays in LA this year. I think Phil can get a Kobe-led team to win games. Golden State was fun to watch last year but I'm not sure they can do it again. Jason Richardson was an emotional leader as well as a great player that will be sorely missed.

2007-2008:

MVP: Steve Nash, Phoenix Suns

He deserves it every year and I think he'll prove it again this year.

Rookie of the Year: Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks

Everyone is picking Durant so I'm going elsewhere. My bet is on Horford and if he doesn't get the award, it might just be because of no supporting cast.

Coach of the Year: Rick Adelman, Rockets

Call it a hunch I guess. I think McGrady finally wins a playoff series this year.

Eastern Conference Playoffs

1. Chicago Bulls

2. Detroit Pistons

3. New Jersey Nets

4. Orlando Magic

5. Boston Celtics

6. Cleveland Cavaliers

7. Toronto Raptors

8. Washington Wizards

Eastern Conference Finals

Pistons over Bulls

Western Conference Playoffs

1. Phoenix Suns

2. San Antonio Spurs

3. Utah Jazz

4. Houston Rockets

5. Dallas Mavericks

6. Denver Nuggets

7. LA Lakers

8. Golden State Warriors

Western Conference Finals

Suns over Spurs

NBA Finals

Suns over Pistons

Of course, I could be completely wrong.

NCAA Picks

5 fumbles, 5 freaking fumbles, if there were only 4 fumbles or even less Air Force wins by 2 TDs plus, instead they lose. Was down 860, Matt Ryan came back to put him back in the lead of the Heisman race, so down 895.

Keeping with the Friday night Moneyline pick.

Fresno St ML BSU

Kent -14 Miss St Over 61


Kansas +3 Texas A&M, Duke +23.5 FSU and Troy +1 Ark St.

Thursday Picks and Recap

Was down 640 schrute bucks, which is alot but when you consider how many Stanley nickels that is, well, don't get me started, it makes me sick to my stomach. UConn beat Louisville on a questionable fair catch (i'll take it), lost the other three so down 165 schrute bucks for college, in the pros, picked Buffalo at +145 lost the other two so down 55 schrute bucks for a total of down 860 schrute bucks.

There are two college games tonight, with #2 BC a 3 point dog against the Hokies, is this the 2nd week in a row the #2 in the nation loses on Thursday night, I don't think so, I'll take BC on the ML. Lets take Air Force at +200 as well. Good Luck this week.