Last week folks. NFL done, NASCAR back again.

Ugh. It's the last week of the NFL season. Where the hell did that quarter of the year disappear to?
This late in the year, I went 12-4 in the straight up picks last week. Merry Christmas to ME!!!!
That brings the season picks to 161-78. 70% ratio. Hmmm. Just little ole me, at 70% on the straight up picks.

Well now we get to the worst week of the straight up picks, hell we are the worst week with points.

Indy vs. Buffalo. Fred Jackson runs for two scores. Indy loses again and misses the Super Bowl.

Jax vs. Cleveland. The O/U on this game is 39. Take the Under as it will be a running game. Cleveland wins.

Philly vs. Dallas. Lose this week, come back to Dallas next week, Minnesota lost last night. Philly wins by double digits.

Chicago vs. Detroit. Who really cares? I'm not picking either team.

Atlanta vs. Tampa Bay. Atlanta wins.

New Orleans vs. Carolina. Drew Brees gets dialed in against the Panthers, and wins large.

New England vs. Houston. Playoff status means nothing to New England, and Houston can still qualify. New England wins, but take the 8 points Houston is getting.

San Fran vs. St. Louis. Please. 49'er's destroy St Louis.

Pittsburgh vs. Miami Mullets- I'm taking Miami here.

NY Football Giants vs. Minnesota and diva Favre- That was a fantastic MNF game last night, but the Giants aren't going to bring game to the table at the Metrodome. The Vikings secure the 3rd seed in the NFC after beating the Giants.

Cincy vs. Jets. The Bengals are a mess the last few weeks. Take the Jets who need a win.

Green Bay vs. Arizona. Hmm. Wicked game. The Over/Under is 43 right now. Take the under. Arizona will win with Leinert at qb.

Washington Crackheads vs. San Diego. San Diego will continue on their path and beats Washington.

Tennessee vs. Seattle. Tennessee wins because they give Chris Johnson 50 touches on the ball.

Baltimore vs. Oakland. Baltimore wins easily.

Kansas City vs Denver. Denver tries to hold on to a playoff spot, but remember, I stated that Denver would be the first team to start 5-0 and miss the playoffs, KC wins.

Oh Brother, what a week..........

So a woman walks into the veterinarians office with a duck. She lays the duck on the vets table and says, what's wrong with my duck? The vet responds it's dead. I can't believe it says the woman, I want someone else to examine it. So, the vet takes the duck into another room and a golden lab sniffs the duck from head to tail, and concludes, it's dead. The woman still won't admit the duck is dead and wants another opinion. So, the vet takes the duck into a room where a cat sniffs the duck from head to tail and concludes once again, the duck is definitely dead. The woman finally relents and asks the doctor how much the office visit will be, and he responds, usually, 50.00 but since I had to send it to the lab and requested a cat scan, 300.00.

How are my jokes? Most likely as good as my picks. 8-8 this past week. I have been unable to pick a Thursday night game this year. And in the past few weeks my Monday night picks aren't much better. I was 14-2 in week 1 and 8-8 in week 15, are you kidding me? 149-74 overall. The Jets losing at home against the Falcons eliminated from the playoffs. Oakland beating Denver in Denver with a quarterback who had not played in years. Tampa winning in Seattle? Please. Minnesota tanking in Carolina? Why aren't 100.00 bills flying out of my ass?

I'm disgusted with many things happening in the Nation during this week, so no lovey dovey discussions regarding each game. Wake the hell up America, your freedom is being ripped from you as I type.

San Diego vs. Tennessee. San Diego
Buffalo vs. Atlanta. Atlanta
Kansas City vs. Cincy. Cincy
Oakland vs. Cleveland. Cleveland
Seattle vs. Green Bay. Green Bay
Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh. Baltimore
Houston vs Miami. Houston
Jacksonville vs. New England. New England
Tampa vs New Orleans. New Orleans
Carolina vs New York Giants. Giants
Detroit vs San Fran. San Fran
St Louis vs. Arizona. Arizona
NY Jets vs Indy. Indy
Denver vs. Philly. Philly
Dallas vs Washington. Dallas
Minnesota vs Chicago. Minnesota

I've played fantasy football for 12 years, and this season I had 5 teams, each one of my teams has reached the playoffs for the first time in my career, but I really could care less as I watch the Senate destroy this great Nation by passing a 2700 page bill that no one has yet to read, and Senators getting payoffs just for their vote. I'm so happy that the State of Nebraska will never have to pay federal Medicaid payments ever again, just so Harry Reid and his band of fucking crooks can ram this bill down our throats. If you think unemployment is bad now, just wait until June of 2010. Wake up people. This bill isn't about affordable healthcare, it's about Big Brother dictating every aspect of your life from here on out. How's the hoax and change working for ya now, suckers?

What the Hell?? Week 15

What a brutal week for those who try to predict football games. Every single Thursday night game this season, I've lost. This past Saturday, New Orleans looked flat. It was the worst game I've watched the Saints play all season, but they were still fighting until there were 9 seconds left.

Point spreads weren't an option this week and I'm sure bookies and Vegas raked in tons of cash Sunday. I had Arizona winning straight up and they did but failed to cover against the 28th ranked pass defense in Detroit. Atlanta came out of no where with Matt Ryan starting as a surprise and managing a weak win. Atlanta was eliminated from the playoffs with Dallas's win over the Saints, they are a dome team traveling to New Jersey after record snowfall and they win. Are you freaking kidding me? Houston only manages to beat the Rams by 3? Oakland travels to Denver as a 14 point underdog while starting a quarterback who hasn't played in 2 years and won straight up. You've got to be kidding me. Minnesota was a 10 point favorite heading to Carolina Sunday night. Carolina had Mandy, I mean Matt Moore under center, lost DeAngelo Williams early and has lost both starting tackles for the season, yet pulled off a beatdown on a Vikings team which doesn't travel well.

Finally, in the worst game of the week, The Bucs traveled to Seattle as a 7 point underdog and won outright 24-7, while forcing 5 turnovers. You have got to be kidding me. Way to go Junior. At 1-12, and a chance to get Suh in the draft, you win the game and drop the Bucs draft spot down to at least 3rd currently. Do you think you might sneak 2 wins in during the final 3 weeks and save your job for next year? All I want for Christmas is to see your happy ass gone and an actual head coach with experience replace you. Oh, that's right, we had one. I disagreed with Gruden ALOT. However, this team would not be 2-12 if he had stayed.

Deja Vu, all over again?

If the playoffs were to start today, I know, all bets are off during the last two weeks of the season, but an interesting scenario is evolving. The NFC playoff participants seem more in place than the AFC with New Orleans, Minnesota, Philadelphia, and Arizona atop their respective divisions. Dallas and Green Bay appear to be locks for the wildcard spots. With New Orleans and Minnesota heading towards an apparent first round bye, week 17 will make for some interesting positioning for the last 4 teams likely to extend their seasons into January. Dallas hosts Philadelphia in the final week of the season and Green Bay travels to Arizona.

With Arizona and the winner of the NFC East getting the #3 and #4 seeds, week 17 games will set up a virtual rematch for the wildcard round of playoff games. I can remember in the past a team finishing the season and then playing them the next week in the playoffs, however, I can't ever recall 2 teams finishing the season only to face the same opponent the first week of the playoffs.

This lays out the groundwork for very fascinating football the last week of the year.

March to the playoffs continues.

I predicted this would be a bad year for the Bucs back in August while suggesting they would put 3 games in the win column, but that looks daunting at this point. Junior Morris has commented this past week that he is bored with being the head coach. Well, that must be because the team is functioning on a cylinders right now and that the team basically runs itself. Yeah, right. All I want for Christmas is a firing of Morris on January 4th, 2010, and a competent head coach put in place. I don't trust Morris in choosing the players in next year's draft with the Bucs selecting as high in the draft as they'll be.

Around the league, Indy and New Orleans are cruising towards a perfect season, though the Horseshoes head coach said that they would be resting players during the final two games. New England looks shaky with a banged up Tom Brady and Randy Moss laying down early in games.
Baltimore looks like they are making a push for a wildcard spot, despite losing at Green Bay 2 weeks ago. The Jets are in the hunt but after this weeks contest, they have to play Indy and Cincy. Green Bay certainly has been playing strong as of late. San Diego has reeled off 8 in a row and might be the third best team in the league.

Picks were 11-5 last week and the season record so far is 141-66.

Thursday Night
Indy at Jacksonville.
This game opened in Vegas on Monday morning with the Horseshoes being a 6.5 favorite and today, it's down to 3 points. Jacksonville has too much on the line in this matchup and will be playing in front of a soldout stadium for the first time in several seasons. Jacksonville wins by 2 on a late field goal.

Saturday Night
Dallas at New Orleans.
The Saints were my preseason favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl and this team is playing as well as anyone in the league right now. The Superdome will be rockin, mass quantities of beer will be consumed, thousands of crawfish will be eaten while the fans watch the Saints roll over the Cowboys in a double digit win. The Cowboys wish the playoffs would start the week after Thanksgiving as they play horrible in December. The Boys will miss the playoffs again this season. At least Jerry Jones has a big screen tv at his new stadium to watch the playoffs on.

New England at Buffalo.
The wheels are falling off in New England and if they don't get it get it back on track soon, they too, will be watching the playoffs at home. The Pats win a low scoring contest 19-13.

Arizona at Detroit.
Arizona turned the ball over 7 times in San Francisco Monday night. Detroit has been outscored by over 100 points in the last three games. Arizona locks up the NFC West division by 4pm Sunday after pummeling the Lions.

Miami at Tennessee.
The Titans started the season by dropping 6 straight games, then won 5 in a row. It appears that Vince Young might miss this weeks game and if he does, it will be reflected in Chris Johnson's production. Miami is playing for a wildcard spot and wins this week.

Cleveland at Kansas City.
Who stole the Brown's uniforms last week? 8 sacks? A win against Pittsburgh? Will they make it two in a row? Yes. The Chiefs are horrible and Matt Cassel simply isn't the same quarterback without Randy Moss and Wes Welker. Break up the Browns, they win two in a row.

Houston at St Louis.
It's a little too late for the Texans. They have had problems at running back all season long and quite simply are one of the most underachieving teams in the NFL this season. St Louis is , well, St Louis and their offensive line is down to just two starting guards. Houston puts up huge numbers against a team which should be playing in the NCAA Div II.

Atlanta at J-E-T-S. Jets Jets Jets.
The Falcons have never had back to back winning seasons in franchise history and with Matt Ryan and Michael Turner out, they just may continue that trend this year. The forecast calls for possible snow in the Meadowlands this Sunday, the Jets have a great defense and strong running attack. Jets move forward, maintaining playoff hopes.

San Francisco at Philadelphia.
You know the drill, a team wins on Monday night against a division rival and a west coast team comes east for a 1:00pm kickoff. The 49'ers are improved this year but not quite there yet. Philly marches towards a division title with a win.

Chicago at Baltimore.
Baltimore's Ray Rice is running as strong as any back in football right now, amassing 200 total yards and a score last week against the Lions. Chicago's Jay Cutler has lobbed 20 picks so far this year. The Bears have no offensive line, Matt Forte has really suffered a sophomore slump, they have no defense, a questionable kicker, but other than that, I guess it could be worse. Baltimore wins.

Cincinnati at San Diego.
Every time these two teams match up, I can't help but think about that classic matchup on January 10th, 1982, where the gametime temperatures were -9 on the field and the 35 mph winds caused the windchill temps to be near -50 at kickoff. That won't be a problem this week, kickoff will see the temps in the mid 60's in San Diego. Cincinnati lost to Oakland a few weeks back on the west coast and the offense is having trouble scoring points. Bad time of the year to have scoring problems. San Diego is red hot, and I'm wondering if Tomlinson can stay healthy in January this year.

Oakland at Denver.
How bad is your football team when you're crippled by Bruce Gradkowski being lost for the season? If that's not bad enough, your options at quarterback are JaMarcus Russel or Charlie Frye. Ouch. Denver wins easily.

Green Bay at Pittsburgh.
Snow in December at Heinz Field but the Steelers have nothing left to play for other than pride. Green Bay is cruising with 5 straight wins and they aren't going to let up in this one. Green Bay wins by a touchdown.

Tampa Bay at Seattle.
Tampa plays poorly on the west coast. Josh Freeman will be overwhelmed by the noise in Seattle's stadium and after throwing 8 picks in the last two games, that trend should continue. The Bucs haven't scored a touchdown in 2 games and most likely won't score one on Sunday either. Seattle wins.

Minnesota at Carolina.
Carolina has Matt Moore under center, and their strength has been the running game over the past few weeks. But, the Panthers have lost both starting tackles and Minnesota brings the Williams Wall on the defensive line with them. Minnesota must continue to win in order to obtain a first round bye or even homefield advantage in the playoffs. Favre tosses 3 scores and the Vikings cruise Sunday night.

Monday Night
New York Football Giants at Washington.
The Giants defense has been exposed. Washington has actually seen some offense after coordinator Sherm Lewis was hired mid season. Washington wins a home game over a division rival.

Journalism is dead, part deux.

I know, you are all tired of the Tiger Woods stories, I am too, he's a dirtbag. However as I pointed out last weeks grammar issue on the ProFootballTalk.com website, let's take a look at tonight's article from the New York Daily News linked below. They claim that since the advent of the Tiger Woods scandal after Thanksgiving, Democrat Representative Joe Baca has scrapped his plans to bestow the Congressional Medal of Honor to Tiger Woods. MEMO to the NY Daily News, bestow means to give as a gift. The Congressional Medal of Honor is earned and awarded, not bestowed. My Great grandfather was awarded the medal twice for his service, and I have the family tree to prove I'm not some wacked out blogger. But what I find so offensive in this article is that the writer never questions the intent to bestow the Congressional Medal of Honor on Tiger Woods, who has never served in the military. This is what I find so disturbing about the 20year old somethings coming out of college and finally getting jobs in journalism. They were not taught proper history and they disregard those who remember it. Interesting enough, there is no rebuttal on Rep. Baca's website, and if you do not live in his district, he will not accept emails from you, and calls go directly to voicemail. This was going to be the most transparent administration in the history of US Government. How's that hoax and change working out for ya?


http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/12/09/2009-12-09_tiger_woods_texts_to_rachel_uchitel_alleged_mistress_no_1_reveal_tortured_affair.html

Phew!, A hell of a week.

Last week's picks stunk it up as I watched my first losing record of the season while going 7-9. Sure, I picked the Chiefs over the Broncos as a stretch pick. But, Bruce, the Polish Popgun Gradkowski, former Buc, looked like Roger Freaking Staubach against the Steelers in Pittsburgh. What's up with that? I did, however, predict a trap game for the Saints and suggested taking Washington and the 11 points. Those who did, won. Last week's dismal predictions have brought my selections to a season long record of 130-61.

Thursday Night
Pittsburgh V. Cleveland. Stick a fork in the Steelers, they are done for the season. That thought warms the hearts of many Brownie fans I'm sure, but it's always better to have something to root for than root against. The poor fans in Cleveland haven't had anything to root for in decades and it isn't looking better down the road. The climate change, Global warming blizzard, known as AlGore which is creeping across the Great Lakes region today will create a massive lake effect snow event for Thursday's game. Take the under on the points, and the Steelers will win.

Denver V. Indy. I have picked Indy to lose the past two weeks but I'm not picking them this week though. The Horseshoes can wrap up homefield advantage through the playoffs this week. This afternoon, the Colts said that career quarterback backup Jim Sorgi has been placed on IR with a shoulder injury. Manning will play this week and solidify homefield for the playoffs. It will be interesting to see what the Colts do with their starters for the final 3 weeks. Peyton has got to be just a bit happy with the turmoil over at Tiger Woods house, just think of all the new sponsors he can sign with after the first of the new year. Maybe advertising executives could create an all Manning all the time network, and in the offseason, the forehead could sell things just like the Home Shopping Network. Colts win.

Cincy V. Minnesota. Gray beard Favre threw nearly as many picks in Sunday night's game as he has all season. But the Vikings are going home to the friendly confines of the Metrodome, with the piped in crowd noise, where they are 6-0 this season. Cincinnati has never beaten Minnesota in Minnesota. Cincy has been weak against teams they should blow out, and while there are some injuries on Minnesota's side, Minnesota wins this game based on Favre's will. Close one, 30-27.

Jets V. Tampa Bay. Josh Freeman. For a few weeks you looked promising, but now in the last two games, you've turned the ball over 9 times. 4 picks last week in the endzone against a struggling Panthers team. You threw for over 300 yards, moved the team up and down the field, on the road, and scored 6 points? Last year, I posted Buc game recaps, this year, why bother. It appears that the J-E-T-S will be starting Kellen Clemens at QB this week instead of first round draft choice, Mark Sanchez. Didn't Kellen Clemens used to play saxophone for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band? Don't touch the Bucs for the last 4 games of this season, the JETS win.

Buffalo V. Kansas City. If there would ever be a contraction of the number of NFL teams, these two should be prime candidates. Jamaal Charles runs wild in this one and KC (without the Sunshine Band) chalks up a win.

Green Bay V. Chicago. Green Bay is making their push towards the playoffs, Chicago is looking towards the April draft. Green Bay's defense is very underrated and does Chicago even have a defense? Green Bay wins large.

New Orleans V. Atlanta. I called the trap game last week with the Saints coming off a home game, in a dome, then going on the road outdoors. Real football should be played outdoors. However, this Saints team is clicking on all cylinders and will be playing indoors against a wounded Falcons team. Matt Ryan will most likely not be playing this week, Michael Turner will miss another start and their secondary is horrible. Saints win and give the points this week.

Detroit V. Baltimore. Detroit is 0-6 on the road. Baltimore is pissed off and on a short week. Take Baltimore to win with Ray Rice having a large game.

Miami V. Jacksonville. I've been up in the air here about this game. Jacksonville has one of the best running backs in the league in MJD, but I feel the Miami Mullets are going to bring lots of confidence into this game against a in state rival which has been all over the board this year. Miami wins a very close game.

Carolina V. New England. New England is going to lose 3 in a row? If they do, Tom Brady will have lots of time to spend with his new baby come January 3rd around 4pm. Pats win.

Seattle V. Houston. Two teams which have really disappointed me all year. I have Texans running back, Steve Slaton on one of my fantasy teams, and now he is out for the season. The Texans have much more talent than their record allows. Seattle has a 1-5 road record, but I feel Seattle gets the win here.

St Louis V. Tennessee. Please, no discussion here. Chris Johnson rushes for 200 yards and three scores. Tennessee wins by halftime.

Washington V. Oakland. I really thought I would be done discussing the Polish Pop Gun, Bruce Gradkowski after he left Tampa and had failed attempts in Cleveland and St Louis, but oh no, here he comes again. 3 touchdowns in the 4th quarter against Pittsburgh, are you kidding me? The Crackheads suck and are headed West, so the Raiders win number 5 for the year and 3 under the leadership of the bald one. Why couldn't you through 50 yards down the field when you were in Tampa?

San Diego V. Dallas. I mentioned last week that Dallas always takes the December dive, but I didn't think it was going to be against a Giants team with their own problems. Never underestimate the impact of a divisional game. Outside of Indy and New Orleans, the Chargers are playing lights out football. (remember, I predicted them in the AFC Championship game back in September) This will be a great game but San Diego comes away with win number 8 in a row.

Philadelphia V. New York Football Giants. The Giants have their backs up against the wall in this game, if they lose, they are done for the playoffs. McNabb is getting up there in age, Andy Ried just got a contract extension today and the Eagles continue their march towards the NFC East division title after beating the Giants in this Sunday night game.

Monday Night
Arizona V. San Fran. Nancy Pelosi is representing San Fran, I want them to lose every single game from here on out, sorry folks but until you fruits and nuts elect reasonable representation, you must lose. Arizona wins.

A Clean sweep of the post?

WOW! Less than two hours after my post regarding the grammar issues in Florio's post, the prediction website is updated with a new introduction to the first paragraph. That's fantastic.

The Patriots have only swept Miami twice in the Belichick area and they often struggle in Jimmy Buffet Stadium.


Patriots (7-4) at Dolphins (5-6)
1 p.m., CBS

The Dolphins aren’t any worse than the team that finished last season 11-5. Yet they are staring 5-7 in the face. A much tougher schedule and a propensity for fourth quarter collapses have ruined their season. (Opponents have outscored Miami 83-22 in the fourth quarter since their bye week.)

New England traditionally bounces back from tough losses with fury. They haven’t lost back-to-back games since 2006. But this is the second time in three weeks they are coming off a devastating loss and they are working on a short week. The Patriots have only swept Miami twice in the Belichick area and they often struggle in Jimmy Buffet Stadium.

This is a very dangerous game for the Patriots, but Miami’s secondary has too many holes for Tom Brady to throw in. Look for something different from these Pats: a fourth quarter comeback.

Pick: Patriots 31, Dolpins 28


Hmmm. How many times have the Patriots struggled in Jimmy Buffet Stadium?

And what exactly is the Bill Belicheck area?

Florio is a sell out and a loser unable to write complete sentences based on factual information.

Journalism is dead folks, thats why newspapers are dying

Below, is a game prediction from Mike Florio and Gregg Rosenthal. Mike Florio founded the popular website, profootballtalk.com. This year, Mike sold out to NBC and merged with the nbcsports.msnbc.com team. Mike runs a site which is many times driven by rumors, not near the comparison of the TMZ of pro football, but mostly, his site is feeds of stories run in papers from NFL hometowns. Over the years, his site has attracted a lot of attention and he had gotten sponsorship from Sprint shortly before merging with NBC sports. The site sees much shameless self-promotion with a focus on grammar, sentence structure, and fact checking.
Below is the compiled game day predictions from Mr Florios website on the NBC/MSNBC site regarding the upcoming Miami Mullets against the New England Patriots. I beg any 9th grade English teacher to show me how the first two sentences of the posting are grammatically correct.
The Dolphins play in Land Shark Stadium, not Jimmy Buffett Stadium. And look at the final score prediction, what the hell is a Dolpin? Now, if you are writing a blog for NBC, wouldn't you think there could be (A) some fact checking, (B) some spell checking, and lastly, some sentence structure checking? What happened to the AP style guide for journalism?
Florio, last time I checked, I was kicking your ass too in straight up picks this year, behind you guys over at ESPN and Sporting News. Line forms at the end around the corner.

Patriots (7-4) at Dolphins (5-6)
1 p.m., CBS

The Dolphins aren’t worse of a team than the one that finished last season 11-5. Yet they are staring 5-7 in the face. A much tougher schedule and a propensity for fourth quarter collapses have ruined their season. (Opponents have outscored Miami 83-22 in the fourth quarter since their bye week.)

New England traditionally bounces back from tough losses with fury. They haven’t lost back-to-back games since 2006. But this is the second time in three weeks they are coming off a devastating loss and they are working on a short week. The Patriots have only swept Miami twice in the Belichick area and they often struggle in Jimmy Buffet Stadium.

This is a very dangerous game for the Patriots, but Miami’s secondary has too many holes for Tom Brady to throw in. Look for something different from these Pats: a fourth quarter comeback.

Pick: Patriots 31, Dolpins 28

Road Rules week 13.

week 12 saw my picks at 10-6 to bring the season long record to 123-52. I believe that record is still above any of the "experts" over at ESPN, though Merril Hoge is close. We are in the stretch run for the playoffs and injuries are mounting as some teams scrap to get an invitation to play in the NFL's second season. This week, I believe we will see a road team domination.

Thursday night
Jets @Toronto Bills. The Bills play their first regular season game north of the border at the Rogers Center in Toronto. Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is nursing a knee injury and I'm going with the Bills to win this "home" game.

Philly @ Atlanta. Matt Ryan will miss this weekends start with Chris Redman filling in for Atlanta this week. Redman was efficient last week versus the Bucs but will see a myriad of blitz packages this week. Sure, the Eagles are going to go without DeSean Jackson most likely this week(concussion), but Jason Avant should fill in nicely. Eagles continue their march towards the NFC East title.

St Louis @ Chicago. This week Jay Cutler might finally have some time to set up and throw the ball as the Rams have no pass rush. Good thing, because the Bears don't have an offensive line. Bears win at home. Matt Forte, 131 combined yards and 1 touchdown.

Detroit @ Cincinnati. Cincy didn't put as many points on the board last week against their divisional rival, but that should change this week. Jasmine's favorite team, the Bengals, are 13 point favorites this week and are 6-0 against the spread (ATS) in non conference games in the past two years. Cincy puts the pedal to the metal and wins by 20.

Oakland @ Pittsburgh. Big Ben should be back this week. Da Raydahs have had 10 days to get ready for the Steelers. Bruce "the Polish Popgun" Gradkowski will be figured out by the Steelers defense and another ugly showing by the Raiders is in store.

Tennessee @ Indy. This should be a great game this week. The Titans have won 5 in a row, and the Colts have yet to lose one this year. However, Tennessee is 9-2 against the spread when they've have 2 or more consecutive wins in the past 2 years. Indy is 13-30 ATS over the past 5 years against teams with losing records. The Colts finally lose this week.

Denver @ Kansas City. Yes, Denver won large, 26-6 against the Giants on Turkey Day, but the Giants are in a downward spiral. Denver is 0-7 ATS in the past 7 games when they were favored by 3.5-9.5 points and 1-8 ATS against teams with a losing record. Kansas City has nothing to lose. I'm taking Kansas City to beat their division rival outright behind Jamaal Charles running strong. Charles has 90 yards and two scores.

New England @ Miami. Did you all get to watch my preseason Super Bowl pick Saints put that beat down on the Pats? That upcoming NFC Championship game between the Vikings and Saints is going to be one for the ages. Miami is 0-6 against the spread in week 10-13 over the past 2 seasons. Brady and company are pissed off and will wear out the young corners of the Miami Mullets.

New Orleans @ Washington Crackheads. This is a classic trap game. The Saints are coming off an emotional win on a short week and traveling to an outdoor stadium against a weak team. Washington has covered the spread in the last three games and early in the week, they are a double digit underdog. I'll take Washington and the points but the Saints win.

Tampa Bay @ Carolina. Carolina's starting quarterback, Jake Delhomme has a broken finger on his throwing hand and it appears that the third year Oregon State product, Matt Moore will most likely start at quarterback. Steve Smith and DeAngelo Williams are both listed early in the week as questionable. The Bucs are 6.5 point underdogs and on the road for the second straight game. The Bucs win this game outright this week. I predict 4 turnovers by the Panthers, and the Bucs score 30 points for win number two of the year.

Houston @ Jacksonville. These two teams are the poster children for those teams which are classic underachievers. Matt Schaub has a monster day against one of the worst pass defenses in the league. Houston hangs around in the wildcard chase for another week.

San Diego @ Cleveland. San Diego comes in on fire, to the city where the river caught on fire, after running off 6 consecutive wins. Cleveland doesn't have a prayer.

Dallas @ New York Football Giants. Sure, the calender reads December and that should signal the annual meltdown for the Dallas Cowboys. It won't start this week against a Giants team which started 5-0 and is 1-5 in subsequent games in the past 6 weeks. The Cowboys meltdown starts next week as they face the Chargers, @New Orleans, @Washington, and Philly, the final month of the season. Cowboys win this week.

San Francisco @ Seattle. San Fran is still in the hunt for a wildcard spot as the Giants, Cowboys, and Falcons future is uncertain. Seattle has been horrible this season and seemingly, key players have been on the injury report week in and week out all season long. San Fran hangs around this week, wins and stays in the hunt.

Minnesota @ Arizona. Will Warner play this week? Will Favre finally have a bad game this season? Will I ever win the Florida Lottery? All three of these are valuable and important questions. The Vikings are having a season for the ages with a quarterback of the ages. Warner sits, Favre plays and I don't win the lotto again this week. Minnesota needs to keep pace with the Saints for home field advantage through the playoffs. Vikings win a close one, 37-31.

Monday Night
Baltimore @ Green Bay. Pittsburgh's slide over the past 3 games, have allowed Baltimore to get back into the thick of the AFC wildcard playoff hunt. Green Bay has won 3 in a row after losing in Tampa to the previous winless Bucs. Baltimore has more to lose in this game than Green Bay. Ray Lewis will have the Raven's defense amped up and they will win a close one on Monday Night Football, 23-19.

71 days until the Super Bowl and counting.........

The NFL season is too damn short. Fans of the game try to fill their love of the game by watching empty events such as the scouting combine, the draft, many of us huddle around to see who goes where at the start of free agency, and can't wait for training camp to open when we know all teams start anew and everyone is undefeated. It feels as if the season just started and now, there are 71 days until the culmination of the season this year in Miami.

My selections of the Vikings and Saints playing in the NFC Championship looks like it might be a reality. My fantasy teams (5) are all in first place in their respective divisions. Finally, my 3-4 win season for the Bucs looks to be a bit too generous.

The straight up pics last week went 12-4 and yesterday's choices were 2-1, that brings my documented picks on this blog so far this season to 115-47. Let's get to this week's selections.

Bengals vs. Browns. Brady Quinn had 27 fantasy points last week. He must have had some of that energy drink he pimps on tv before the game because I have no idea where that outburst of production came from. The Bengals, fell right into the trap game against Oakland. The Bengals (my Bengal cat Jasmine's favorite team) is at home and 5-0 vs. the division opponents. Cleveland is 0-4 in division. Jasmine is happy at 4:30pm EST as the Bengals cruise to a easy win.

Vikings vs. Bears. The ageless wonder, Lord Favre is showing no signs of breaking down as he did last season with the Jets. Then again, not every team has Adrian Petersen. The Bears offensive line is horrible and the Vikings will manhandle the Bears all afternoon. Vikings advance to 10-1.

Eagles vs Crackheads. I've been waiting to see Philly make a move towards a wildcard playoff spot, and now that the New York Football Giants got destroyed last night, Sunday's game will be the venue. These divisional games are always close and I think I will take the Crackheads +9 but the Eagles will win.

Miami Mullets vs. Toronto Bills. Ricky Williams has been reported over the past week with a chest injury, but worry not Mullet fans, he scores twice and you stay in the hunt for a wild card spot for at least another week at 6-5.

Seahawks vs Rams. Rams RB Stephen Jackson has missed practices this week and is experiencing back spasms. It's no wonder he has back spasms because this 30+ year old running back is trying to carry the entire team on his back. He's gotten 95 carries in the last 4 games, not to mention the catches out of the backfield. The only player with more total yards from scrimmage this year to date is Chris Johnson. Seahawks win this one.

Falcons vs Bucs. Will it be Turner or Snelling in the backfield for the Falcons? It looks like a game time decision. The Bucs are floundering badly. The OC was fired days before the start of the season and now Jim Bates has been replaced with Junior Morris calling the defense. Wasn't that what he was hired to do a year ago? The Falcons are trying to get over the stigma of never having back to back winning seasons in their franchise history and currently sit at 5-5. Matty Ice has suffered somewhat of a sophomore slump at quarterback this season. The Falcons are going to win this but I'm taking the Bucs +13 in my parlay.

Jets-Panthers. The Panthers have actually been playing better in the past few weeks, and the duo in the Carolina backfield will have success against a weak D-Line of the Jets. Steve Smith gets shut down by Jets CB Revis, but nothing new there. Carolina is playing in the Meadowlands, temps are in the mid 50's and light winds. They win by a field goal.

49'er's vs Jaguars. This in my mind is one of the most difficult games this week to forecast. Both teams are all over the radar screen. Early injury reports show that MJD and MSW both missed some practice this week and are now listed as probable with knee ailments. Jacksonville has not had a very good record traveling West this season, but I sense they know they are deep in the hunt for a wildcard spot and will pull out a win on their trip to Nancy Pelosi's hometown.

Chargers vs Chiefs. I look like Einstien this week after taking the Chiefs +11 last week and they won straight up. I'm taking the Chiefs +14 again this week but the Chargers will win this game.

Colts vs. Texans. These two teams played 3 weeks ago, and the Texans missed sending that matchup into overtime by a very nearly missed wide left field goal attempt as time ran out. These two teams know each other very well. Indy beat the Texans week 9 at home by 3, beat the Patriots by 1 and went on the road a beat the Ravens by 2. I'm picking the Texans to beat the Colts this week and I'm taking the 4 points the Texans are getting.

Titans vs Cardinals. The Titans are 4-0 since Vince Young became the quarterback. The Cardinals are 5-0 on the road. Kurt Warner has some injury issues, and the Titans are starting to play some pretty good defense. I'm going with the hot hand and VY to go 5-0.

Steelers vs. Ravens. During the early part of the season, many fantasy football "experts" said they were Wacko for Flacco. Well, they were just plain wacko. Joe Flacco has suffered the same sophomore slump that Matt Ryan has, and isn't putting up the numbers he did in the first month of this season. There were early week questions as to whether or not Big Ben would be starting this week, but all signs seem to point to yes as of now. This will, no doubt, be yet another very close game, but the Steelers prevail and keep marching towards the playoffs.

Monday Night Football
Saints vs. Patriots-

I can't wait to listen to Jon Gruden on Monday night football. I've waited to watch this game since the schedule was released. Prior to the start of the season I predicted a Vikings/Saints NFC Championship game. On week 6 I predicted a Saints appearance in the Super Bowl. This game is going to be a classic. Drew Brees has the quickest release of a quarterback I've seen since Dan Marino. The Superdome is a difficult place to play when the Saints are winning, and this season, the Patriots are 1-3 on the road. I expect a very high scoring game, but the Saints advance to 11-0 after winning 37-31.

11-3 at 7pm Sunday

My straight up pics are currently 11-3 this week. We still have Philly and Chicago tonight and Tennessee vs. Houston Monday night. Thanksgiving screws everything up this coming week. I won't be around so I'll make my picks for Turkey day right now on Sunday night.

Green Bay vs. Detroit. Detroit screwed me good on one of my parlay cards, the Lions and Browns scored 75 points combined? Are you freaking kidding me? Green Bay takes care of Detroit easily.

Oakland vs. Dallas. I had Oakland +11 and the Washington Crackheads +12 this weekend. Don't expect Oakland to win coming into Dallas this week.

New York Football Giants vs. Denver. Denver has now lost the 4th game in a row, I predicted this collapse on week 5 of the NFL season. The Giants win.


I'll address the rest of the games played on Sunday later next week.

This Sunday is 9 years

Thanksgiving has become a melancholy time of year for me over the past several years. My neighbor and the man I considered to be the closest thing to a brother I ever had, died suddenly, the day before Thanksgiving 2000. This year the anniversary of his death will be on Sunday, the 22nd. Peter was a great family man, a hard worker who excelled at his craft, was fanatical about fishing, the only flaw was he was a hockey fan, not a football fan ( just kidding buddy-you might still be sore I beat you at fantasy hockey)

It's really interesting how you arrive at different points in your life. I met Peter by chance through an ex-girlfriend. The house my wife and I live in now is a direct result of meeting Peter. The house nextdoor to Pete's was available to rent and while the ex-girlfriend was kicked out shortly after we moved in, Pete and I became very close friends. Over a few years, I bonded with Pete and his family. During the evenings I was either over at his house, or he was over at my house. In the late 1990's, and the advent of the ultra fast 14.4 dial up modems with computers using Windows 3.1, we were always tweaking our operating systems or downloading some new program. Pete would crash his system just so he could rebuild it, because he could.

If it weren't for Pete, I would never have ever owned a cat. Pete's mother went to her car one morning, while getting ready to start the car, she heard a noise. That noise was a tiny little furball kitten cuddled up on her engine which ended up at my house and since she was alone, I named her Orphie, short for Orphan. Orph was a large part of my life for 13 years.

Pete was one of the most intelligent people I've ever met in my life. His trade in Ft Myers was installing ceramic tile. During periods of bad weather or fishery closures, I'd work with him. I'll never forget his mantra, " You SET Tile, you LAY women and carpeting". Nine years later, I run into people that still say they haven't seen anyone make the tile cuts he could do. Pete, I'll never forget that job we did out at South Seas.

Peter introduced me into the world of politics. He made me really think about things from a different point of view. He inspired me to seek out an appointment to the Gulf Council advisory panel, and unfortunately, he missed my appointment. He missed my Governor's recommendation of appointment to the full voting Council. He missed my trips to Washington, my visit to the floor of the US Senate in full session to get a buyout of fishermen in 2oo5.

Pete's missed out on alot of things I wish I could tell him about. But what I miss telling him about the most is Karen and I getting married. Karen and Pete would have been great friends. I miss you so much buddy, and if you think the Bush V. Gore election was crazy, you'd be out of your mind crazy with whats happening these days. You're not forgotten Pete. I think about you every single day, and those you knew, think about you as well. I wish you were still here.

PETER EDWARD DAVIS JR.
September 20, 1955- November 22, 2000.

Week 11, can you believe it already??????

I know, it's Monday night and I'm making my picks already for this weeks games. We've gotten into the part of the NFL season where Thursday night games come into play and the so-called experts on sites such as ESPN wait until Friday morning to reveal their Thursday night picks. Well, that doesn't help you if you are betting straight up in a pick'em football pool which includes the Thursday night game does it? Nope. Not to mention I'll be on the water for a few days, so might as well get this out of the way now.

I told you loyal readers last week I would not go 8-5 again this week. I delivered on that promise. I went 11-3, and I would have gone 12-3 had I included my pick of Carolina over Atlanta but I omitted it so my season straight up record is now 101-42. That's pushing over 70% (the record is right here online-week by week picks) and I know some folks have won money from my picks, I appreciate my free food and drinks so far this season from Lee Roy Selmons pick 63.

I've got to start this week's column with the question WHY? Why did the Cleveland Browns get a home Monday Night Football game this year? Generally, teams with decent winning records and popular fan bases get primetime games based on the previous year's record. Cleveland has scored 5 offensive touchdowns in it's last 60 quarters of football, hardly a compelling draw for MNF. Outside of Cleveland and Baltimore, I'd bet more people watched the Oprah/Sarah Palin interview today than the football game tonight. I know I was watching the new 5 part World War II series on the History Channel, only checking in to see how Ray Rice was doing for my fantasy team. The Bucs won the Super Bowl (that would be Super Bowl 37 for my Eagles friends reading)
and then opened the season ON THE ROAD on Monday Night Football. Yeah, it was in Philly, and we kicked their ass again in their brand new stadium, but, every Super Bowl winner since has had a home game, primetime since. I'm not too worried about Monday Night Football, playoffs or the like with the Bucs right now so let's move on.

Speaking of the Bucs, I don't believe my desire to see Junior Morris replaced at the end of the season will be realized anytime soon. Jon Gruden just agreed to a long term extension on his ESPN contract today, meaning he will be in the announcer booth for the remainder of his Bucs contract and the tightwad Glazers will have to pay him over 3 million for the next two years while he collects from ESPN as well. Good for you Jon. I do think however, that Junior Morris will remain on the sidelines for the Bucs, regardless of what happens this season. It is looking more and more like a Collective Bargaining Agreement won't be reached and 2010 will be an uncapped season, which will result in what most are saying, an owners lockout in 2011. With such uncertainty, and the cheap owners of the Bucs, why hire a high profile coach only to watch him draw a multi million dollar check and go flats fishing for snook and redfish while the owners lock out the players from playing football. Yup. Welcome to the 1980's Bucs fans.

The Bye weeks are finally over (not that that matters to anyone who doesn't play fantasy football, but, ya freaking-hoo) Wimps need injury reports, I call'em as I see 'em. How about you limp dicks over at ESPN? You don't have an "expert" who is beating my record yet this season. My record is here online for the past two years, Now on to this weeks games:

Thursday Night:
Miami @ Carolina- Both teams coming off a short week. Miami has Ronnie Brown down with injury. Carolina wins.

Washington Crackheads @ Dallas Cowboys- The Crackheads got me on my parlay this week. I took Denver and gave the points, then out of no where, the Crackhead defense takes Kyle Orton out of the game and then Denver is forced to put in, the spleenless Chris Simms, who goes 3-14 for 7 yards and Denver loses again. (more later on that) Dallas is playing at home and Jerry Jones is pissed they hell off after that showing in Green Bay on Sunday. Dallas wins.

Cleveland @ Detroit- WOW. Must I make a pick in this one? Thank God I'm not in this tv market. Detroit wins simply because they are at home. I'll be shocked to see if 30,000 fans show up for the game.

San Fran @ Green Bay- I really thought Dallas would beat Green Bay at home last week after their poor showing in Tampa. Green Bay has really got to dig deep in the coming schedule if they want to make the playoffs. Green Bay wins this week, but the playoffs.............in question.

Pittsburgh @Kansas City- I took Cincy and the points last week, but I thought Pittsburgh would win. Cincy is balling right now but take Pittsburgh against a horrible Kansas City team.

Atlanta @ New York Football Giants- The Giants were a bit overhyped this preseason, and when they shot out of the gate at 5-0, everyone was getting ready for a Manning brother Super Bowl. Atlanta, as a franchise, has never posted back to back winning seasons since 1966, and it's looking like that trend might continue this year. I'm taking the Giants to be very motivated this week off the bye which saw Philly lose another game.

New Orleans @ Tampa Bay- Brees throws for 300 yards and three scores, Saints win by 13 points, my only question is can Aquib Talib shut down Colston one to one? Bucs lose, Saints win.

Buffalo @ Jacksonville- What is up with Jacksonville? One week they look like a playoff contender, the next? I had Jax+7 in the parlay this week and they won straight up. Buffalo is horrible in run defense, I see Jacksonville beating Buffalo and MJD running for 150 and 2, maybe 3 scores.

Indy @ Baltimore- Baltimore played with lots of emotion tonight, they will be on a short week, Peyton Manning coming to town, Indy goes 10-0.

Seattle @ Minnesota- I really felt once Matt Hasselbeck got back behind center, that Seattle would make a run for the NFC West title. Not so much now. Hasslebeck is 34 but playing like he's 50. Favre is 41 and playing like he's 25. Favre has lots of toys around him though Hasselbeck doesn't have. Minnesota goes to 9-1.

Arizona @St Louis- This doesn't warrant disscussion. Arizona easily.

NY Jets @ New England- Whoa boy. I feel sorry to be a New York Jet this coming week. They got beat at home by the Jaguars, and now they have to travel to New England and face a pissed off Patriots team. New England wins by double digits in a key division game.

Cincy @ Oakland- Benson might be out for Cincy, doesn't matter, Palmer throws for 300 and 3 scores.

San Diego @ Denver- This is going to be a great game. I predicted, when the Broncos were 5-0, that they would be the first team in NFL history to go 5-0 and miss the playoffs, let me search the archieves.............. (October 16th) Chargers are on fire right now and the NFL figured out how to beat the Broncos. San Diego wins. Norv Turner figures out how to hang onto his job one more year, again..........

October 16th, 2009.
Monday night-
Denver-San Diego. Denver has come out of the gate strong, winning games they shouldn't have won(see Cincinnati) and beating weak opponents (see Dallas) and last week winning a game outright against the overrated Patriots in overtime. I don't see the Broncos going into San Diego this week, after a bye and beating the Chargers. Phillip Rivers should have a large game. 37-34 final score. Could Denver be a team which starts the season 5-0 and fails to miss the playoffs? I think so.

Philly @ Chicago- The Eagles defense will blitz, blitz, blitz against Jay Cutler and the Bears. Cutler had 5 interceptions against the 49'er's and even if Westbrook is finished for the Eagles, Philly wins this game and stays in the hunt for a playoff birth.

Monday Night
Tennessee @ Houston- This should be a high scoring matchup next week. The smoking hot running back, Chris Johnson, from the Titans who has rushed for 500 yards and 6 scores in the last three games against high flying Matt Schuab and Andre Johnson of the Texans. I believe the Titans are grounded and Houston after a bye week prove they were worthy when they pulled withing 3 of Indy a week ago, Houston wins.

Thanks Junior

Thanks for nothing. For the first time since the 2002 Super Bowl, I wagered on a game the Bucs played. I had a 5 team parlay which pays 20:1 and I had The Cardinals +3, the under 53 on the Saints/Panthers, the Panthers +14, Seahawks -10 and of course, the Packers -10. Of all the weeks to finally win a game, it had to be this week. For the third week in a row, I went 8-5 (90-39 overall). I won't repeat that this week, well, because there are finally 15 games this week as the NFL starts playing Thursday night games down the stretch.

Before I make this weeks picks, regular readers know that I call out Madison Avenue advertising campaigns on this blog. I've got to call out Anheuser Busch on this horrible, Tailgate tested, Tailgate approved campaign. First it was the Grooler, (combination grill/cooler) then it was the Foozie (foam finger with a drink holder). Bud then trotted out the Speaker Box, a radio in something which resembles a case of Bud Light. This past week was the tipping point on the sublime with the smock for dogs which holds condiments. I have thought all along that these commercials were fake, but after speaking with the Bud rep at a local watering hole, I was informed these are in fact real items and you can purchase them on the website. The next item coming is a 3-1 condiment gun which looks like a caulk gun you load with your three favorite toppings. Stop the insanity, please. This is the company which brought us the Bud-weise-er frogs, Louie the Lizard and the Clydesdales playing football, but these last two campaigns, the "Dude" ads and this is, quite frankly embarrassing. I admit, I did think about getting the smock for my cat, because it looks as if you could get a few beers in the holes, but I realized Jasmine has no thumbs and would never be able to retrieve me refills for my empties during game day. So please Busch, from a good customer, stop these stupid advertisements. On to this weeks picks,

San Fran vs. Chicago- Both of these teams are in disarray. The 49er's started the season 3-1 and have dropped three straight. Mike Singletary will have the Niners fired up as they face his old team. 49er's win.

Jets vs Jaguars- Jacksonville has a horrible secondary, so Mark Sanchez should have plenty of chances this week. Jets win.

Denver vs. Washington Crackheads- On week 5, I predicted that Denver would be the first team in NFL history to start 5-0 and miss the playoffs. It does appear that the rest of the NFL has figured out a way to beat the Broncos as they are 1-2 in the past three weeks. This week however, as they travel east to play the Crackheads, they win easily. Washington has serious issues and only won twice, against Carolina and Tampa Bay.

Pittsburgh vs. Cincy- My bengal cat, Jasmine, is angry with me on this pick. Sure, the striped ones are playing well and will most likely make the playoffs, but they won't win in Pittsburgh this week. Cedric Benson's remarkable comeback season will take a detour as he faces the NFL's leading run defense.

Tennessee vs Buffalo- Kerry Collins was replaced at quarterback by former 1st round draft choice, Vince Young. Young has not played all that spectacular, but he has produced two wins in the last two weeks. Granted, the wins were over Jacksonville and Oakland, but this weeks opponent is not any better. The Titans win.

Minnesota vs. Detroit- Pencil in win number 8 for Favre and company. Stafford and Megatron appear to be feuding, that isn't good news for the Motor City.

New Orleans vs. St Louis- The only question here is how many touchdowns will Brees end up with on Sunday.

Miami vs. Tampa Bay- Sure, Tampa got one in the win column last week but don't expect the same result this week as Miami will have game film on Josh Freeman. Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams are running the wildcat to perfection and Miami wins easily.

Oakland vs. Kansas City- Does anyone really care about this game other than fantasy football players? And if your fantasy teams are depending on this game, you're in trouble. Kansas City wins.

Arizona vs Seattle- I really felt that once Matt Hasslebeck returned to the lineup, Seattle would challenge for the division title, but this team isn't going to be playing after January 3rd 2010. Arizona wins.

San Diego vs. Philly- I really felt like the Eagles were going to separate themselves in the NFC East but fell flat on Sunday night against the Cowboys. Now, they have to travel west to play the Chargers. San Diego is playing great football as of late, but Norv Turner's team always plays great in the later parts of the season. San Diego wins.

Green Bay vs. Dallas- Dallas was on the road last week in an emotional NFC East game and now, they travel to Green Bay. Green Bay has lost two tough games, their offensive line is horrible but Aaron Rodgers is airing it out and Dallas has a weak secondary. Green Bay can't afford to fall any further behind the Vikings and pull out a close win at home this week.

Indy vs. New England- This will be a great game to watch. However, Indy has played two very close games the past few weeks, failing to cover the spread. This will be the week Indy finally loses a game.

Monday night
Baltimore vs. Cleveland- How does Cleveland rate a Monday Night game? I'm in the stretch runs in my fantasy leagues and I have Ray Rice who will have a monster game against Cleveland. Baltimore wins this game by halftime.

Week 9 and any given Sunday.

That adage in the NFL is so true, any given Sunday. Last week Carolina came out of nowhere. St Louis finally put a mark in the win column, Denver fell back to earth, Miami pulled another win out of thin air, and Tennessee romped to a victory over Jacksonville. And yes, I went 8-5 for yet another week, to bring the year total to date of 82-34.

My Buccos take the field this Sunday in RayJay wearing the horrible uniforms of the past losing seasons. Those of us who watched during the 1970's-1980's will be treated to a blast from the past this week as Junior has decided his handpicked 17th pick overall in the NFL draft is ready to start at quarterback. Josh Freeman will not win this week and most likely won't win the rest of this year. Glazers, please, please, if this team goes 1-15 or 0-16, show Junior the door, don't risk the high draft choices of the upcoming 2010 offseason. The Bucs lose this game as the Packers are pissed after losing to Lord Favre last week.

Crackheads vs. Falcons- Atlanta came close to beating the Saints last Monday night but couldn't turn opportunity into points. Washington is a bad team, and Atlanta is at home. Falcons win.

Arizona vs. Chicago- Talk about two teams which have no direction, this is it. I'm going with Chicago at home.

Baltimore vs Cincy- Cincy is making their playoff push, this game will be a 50 point total game.
Cincy wins.

Houston vs. Indy- Houston is coming into the most important game of the year so far for them. I'm predicting this will be the week Indy finally loses a game.

Miami vs. New England- New England coming off a bye week after winning their last two games by 70 points? Are you kidding me?

Kansas City vs. Jacksonville- Jacksonville wins.

Carolina vs. New Orleans- That logo on the Saints helmets is the Fleur Des Lis. The tri pointed image of the Lily usually associated with French monarchs. That tri pointed image isn't for the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, but rather Brees, Colston and the defense. Carolina last week might have won in Arizona, but no chance this week against the Saints in the Superdome.

Detroit vs. Seattle. Both teams are a wreck. Seattle wins easily.

Tennessee vs. San Fran. Vince Young was under center this past week and they cracked the winless circle. However, Nancy Pelosi's favorite team wins this weekend.

San Diego vs. New York Football Giants. The Giants lept out to a 5-0 record after playing weak teams and have now lost three in a row. Phillip Rivers will light up the Giants secondary and come away with a win in the Meadowlands.

Dallas vs. Philadelphia. Philly is clicking on all cylinders. Dallas's secondary sucks. DeSean Jackson lights it up for 3 touchdowns. As I said last week, Philly is on it's march for a playoff spot.

Monday night
Pittsburgh vs. Denver. Do you remember my prediction two weeks ago that the 5-0 Denver Broncos will be the first 5-0 team to miss the playoffs? Pittsburgh wins.

ET phones home

From Buccaneers.com,

Statement Regarding False Report

Oct 29, 2009 -

Statement by Joel Glazer, Co-Chairman, Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

“The report today by WDAE’s Dan Sileo about our family and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is 100 percent false.

"The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not, nor have they ever been for sale. In addition, our family or any of our related companies have never invested one penny with Bernie Madoff.

"The report is baseless, irresponsible and slanderous. This type of behavior by Mr. Sileo and his company Clear Channel will be dealt with in the appropriate manner.”

I find this response to be a bit odd. Dan Sileo works for WDAE 620 in St. Pete/ Tampa area and I listened to their programing while I lived in the area for nearly 3 years. The afternoon drive time guy, Steve Duemig was an absolute douchebag and the Bucs never responded to any of his claims. He "always had" inside sources and the team was about to be sold yada yada yada.
Granted, Sileo is no gem either. But it will be interesting to see if the Bucs organization files suit against their flagship station in the Bay area with no one attending home Bucs games any longer.

I am still not buying the denial. Of course you need to come out with an immediate response saying it's false. If you are trying to sell something, you want to be from a position of strength. If people know you can't make a big call from the bank January 2010, then, you are going to get a hell of a lot less in asking price for what you are trying to peddle. And what the Glazers are trying to peddle is a piss poor football team with no direction. They do have a rider in the fact they didn't buy Jon Gruden's contract out and his rights are still retained by the Bucs for the next two years. Hmmmm.

I'm not buying into the comments from Joel Glazer. Ownership duties have been transferred over to the two sons after Malcom suffered a stroke a few years ago. This team is in trouble and I stand by my belief that it is for sale.

Yes Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus

Since 1976, I have missed only 6 Tampa Bay Buccaneer games on either television or radio. I have no sources, I'm not an insider, I just have gut feelings about my beloved team and sometimes it appears I am dead on correct.

On August 22nd, I blogged the following,
Junior appears , from all reports, he's going with Byron Sandwich, and he'll be the ragdoll for the first 7 games. Then I suppose on week 9, the Messiah, Josh Freeman will emerge. Hope you season ticket holders remaining, enjoy your ride. SUCKAS...................

Yesterday, Junior announced that Freeman will be the starting quarterback on week 9. I say, why the hell not, it's not like this season means anything any longer, let's see what he's got. Based on what Junior has shown so far, I'm not expecting much from his handpicked quarterback.

Now today, a nugget of hopefully fantastic news has emerged.
http://www.businessinsider.com/nfls-buccaneers-put-on-the-block-2009-10

Did I not opine that this was a possibility on August 15th 2009?
Junior is well over his head going into this year. Bucs fans have just seen this team sink to where it was in the 1990's. After watching the first pre-season game tonight, tons of single season game tickets are stillavailable. Junior isn't helping. I believe Junior is a stop gap coach as the Glazers are trying to sell the team. The Glazers made their money. They bought a cheap team. Got a new stadium, extorted the stadium on season ticket holders, collected revenue on every non football related event in Ray Jay. Interesting tonight, the announcers kept talking about how fan friendly the Bucs stadium is. The Bucs were 60 million under the salary cap going into the free agent season and didnt spend shit. Bucs ownership wonders why no one wants season tickets?

This story was reported this morning on Tampa sports radio station 620 WDAE, which is the Bucs flagship station in the Bay area. If the Glazers are in a financial hardship, I am all for getting a committed ownership team in at One Buc Place. One Tampa resident I would love to see at the helm is Eddie DeBartolo. All he accomplished as owner of the San Fransisco 49ers was to record 5 Super Bowl wins. He's made comments that he would like to return to the ownership ranks again. This story also gives credence to why I think Gruden was fired after a 9-7 season. I believe the Glazers knew that Bruce Allen and Jon Gruden would want to spend as much of the salary cap space which was available.

If DeBartolo does buy the team, the Bucs still have a Super Bowl winning coach under contract, Jon Gruden. DeBartolo has a history with Gruden, when he was with the 49er's in 1990. Gruden has said during Monday Night Football this season that he is really studying the spread and wildcat offense. I would love to see the wildcat offense in Tampa with Carnell Williams, Derrick Ward and Earnest Graham. Hell, I'd like to see ANY offense in Tampa. 2010 is an looking like an uncapped salary year. With DeBartolo as owner, willing to spend money to get the players on the field needed, Gruden would flourish as head coach. Will the Bucs get a fantastic Christmas gift this off season or a lump of coal?

Week 8 already

Last week, I again went 8-5. I went out on a limb by picking Kansas City, Oakland and Carolina to win, and those three teams lost by a combined score of 95-13. Ouch. My combined record for the season so far is 74-29. This past Sunday saw the point favorites in Vegas go 9-2-2 (two pushes).

As we head towards the midpoint of the NFL season, some teams are starting to shake out as contenders, some as pretenders, and then there are the teams which are like the crazy aunt in the basement which no one can understand.

Lets look at my picks for this week-

Bye week @ Tampa Bay- The Vegas line opened with the bye week giving 7 1/2 points over the Bucs at home. Junior Morris responded in a presser today, " Even though we are an underdog in the bye week, are going to have to continue to self evaluate, get stronger as a team, figure out who gives the best chest bumps, who has crunk, and simply move forward from there. Anyone wanna go to Channelside and have drinks?" Bucs lose in the bye, 34-9.

Houston @ Buffalo. Andre Johnson might miss this game with a chest injury but it won't matter. Steve Slaton has really picked up on the catches out of the backfield in the past few weeks with this pass first offense. Houston is making it's run for a playoff spot. Houston's water boy rushes for 100 yards and a score as Houston cruises easily.

Cleveland @ Chicago. The Bears just had 45 points dropped on them and are angrier than Bertha Lewis facing an audit of ACORN by Congress. At the receiving end of that anger, will be the Browns. This game will be ugly, early. Bears, 38-10.

Seattle @ Dallas. Seattle is one of those crazy aunt in the basement teams. Hasslebeck is back, and they are coming off a bye. However, Dallas is playing pretty good right now and I've got to go with Jerry Jone's work release squad wearing the blue stars on their helmet this week.

St Louis @ Detroit. Great news for Detroit, a new GM plant was opened today using stimulus money to fund the re-tooling. Unfortunately, the plant was in Delaware. Joe Biden is from...........Delaware. Good news for beleaguered Lions fans is, regardless if Stafford or Culpepper is under center this week, you will increase your winning percentage 200% this season. Talk about a stimulus. St Louis plods towards the Bucs all time loss record of 26 consecutive games.

Denver @ Baltimore. This just might be the lowest scoring game of the week. Both Baltimore and Denver are coming off a bye and these teams match up really well. Baltimore is scoring 29 per game on offense and giving up 22 on defense. Denver scores 23 per game and yields 11. Baltimore needs to stop a slide of three consecutive losses. Defense wins championships and I'm going with Denver in a game which very well might be 13-9.

San Fransisco @ Indy. Mike Singletary has done some stellar work in San Fran, trying to turn this team around, but it's a year early to crown them as playoff caliber. Alex Smith has replaced Shaun Hill at quarterback. Hill's arm was so weak, his 5 yard out patterns looked like an attempt to go 50 yards down the field. San Fran will score some points and will hover around .500 for the season, but not yet Niner fans.

Miami @ J-E-T-S, Jets Jets Jets. So, up 38-0 over the Raiders, Sanchez is eating a hot dog on the sidelines and catches hell for it? Atleast now, we know he likes his wiener with mustard only.
This game features almost two identical teams. Good run defenses. Good running offenses. Both teams have rookie quarterbacks. But, the Miami Mullets don't have a legitimate wide receiving threat and the Jets have the best cover corner in the league in Darrelle Revis. The Jets win this home game. Jets 24 Miami 20, Revis returns an interception for a touchdown to win the game.

New York Football Giants @ Philly. Philly and the Giants. The Phillies and the Yankees all together as a great big happy family on Sunday in the same town. If I were the mayor, I think I'd ask for some funding for extra police officers. Sure, it looks like Brian Westbrook won't be playing in this game, but it won't matter. LeSean McCoy will step just fine, DeSean Jackson will light up the secondary, and Eli Manning's heel injury will finally become evident. Philly makes the push for the NFC East division title with this game. Philly 34 New York 20. Could someone please tell Andy Reid to take Geno's Cheesesteaks off speed dial? Dear lord, he's starting to look like Vince Wilfork.

Jacksonville @ Tennessee. One of these weeks, you'd expect Tennessee to win a game. This is a team which went 13-3 last season and won 10 games in a row. Titans owner, Bud Adams, came out today and said he wants Vince Young to start at quarterback. Sorry Bud, he was a bad draft decision and he isn't going to turn it around this week against Jacksonville if he does start. Jacksonville wins this game by 17 points.

Oakland @ San Diego. Talk about the crazy aunt in the basement, San Diego more likely resembles the 3 faces of Eve this season. Norv Turner has greatly underachieved with the talent on this squad during his tenure and, as I said yesterday, get ready to see Jon Gruden in San Diego next year, I'm just sayin. The Chargers are 3-3 currently, and hanging around in the wildcard hunt, and this is a must win game for them. The Vegas line opened at 17 points the Chargers are giving. As chaotic as the Chargers have been this year I might take the 17 points, but in the end the Chargers will win this game.

Carolina @ Arizona. It's sounding more and more like Matt Moore will be the Carolina starting quarterback this week out west in the desert. The 20 million guaranteed money in the Jake Delhomme contract extension in the off season isn't looking so wise now is it? 1200 passing yards, 4 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The running tandem of Williams and Stewart aren't going to overcome Arizona this week. Arizona wins 31-17.

Minnesota @ Green Bay. Well, we football fans all know the significance of this game. The return of the Favreanator, Favrea-palooza, and the ultimate end, Favreageddon to the frozen tundra of Green Bay. Then again, the tundra won't be frozen, game time temps are forecast to be hovering around a balmy 40. Green Bay quarterback, Aaron Rodgers has been sacked 25 times already this season with a porous offensive line. Jared Allen and the Williams twins will have a field day in Green Bay. Minnesota wins in one of the best games of the week.


Monday Night-
Atlanta @ New Orleans. Atlanta's defensive backfield is hurting badly. Enough said. New Orleans hangs at least 38 points on Atlanta and continues their quest to their first ever Super Bowl appearance.

7 down, 9 to go, mercifully.

What do Detroit, Cleveland, Oakland and Kansas City all have in common? They all have more wins than the Tampa Bay Bucs. Way to go Junior. The defense is giving up 29 points per game, with 9 plays over 40 yards in just 7 games. The offense isn't faring much better, scoring just 14 points per game. I guess it could be worse, we could be the St Louis Rams who have lost 17 straight games. The Bucs hold the second longest losing streak, at 11 in a row.

Junior had some great quotes yesterday in the post game presser. The bye week will allow for some self evaluation and the team will get better on fundamentals. He also mentioned that one day the Bucs will return to the playoffs. That's right Junior, they will return when your happy ass is down the road. My jaw hit the floor when he looked at a reporter and said, "We got 9 more games to go here Bro." Bro? This is the head coach not some second year special teamer interviewed in the locker room. His ability to destroy the English language this year in pressers really grates on me not to mention how he rudely walks away from the podium.

Next up for the Bucs is the bye week and then in week 9, the Green Bay Packers will be coming to town as the Bucs wear their throwback uniforms from the 1970/1980's and Tito Jackson made his debut in garbage time yesterday and will most likely be under center for week 9. I'm glad I have the Packers D on one of my fantasy teams.

As we reach the midway point of the season, I have a few observations around the league.

New Orleans Saints- This team is going to be tough to beat and I expect to see them win the NFC crown this year. They are scoring 34 points a game and the defense leads the league in takeaways. They are currently 6-0 and have 6 division games upcoming with Carolina, Atlanta and Tampa. I think they end the season no less than 13-3.

Buffalo- They have won a few games lately, most likely saving Dick Juaron's job until the end of the season, but the three wins they have are over Carolina, Tampa and the Jets. 6-10 final record.

Chicago- What has happened to the offensive line in Chicago? Have they all gone to work for Acorn? Matt Forte is having a horrible season. Cutler is second in the league for turnovers.

Denver- In the preseason, I predicted this team would only win 5 games, and each week I keep waiting for them to fold. This team was in turmoil in the preseason, but Kyle Orton keeps plodding along, continuing to win while under center. It looks like the AFC West is Denver's to lose.

San Fransisco- They started the season out strong, but their youth is starting to show. Singletary has the team going in the right direction, but another year away before they make a serious run at the playoffs.

Cincinnati- Perhaps the best 5-2 team no one is talking about. This could be a dark horse team in the AFC.

New York Giants- The G-men started out of the gate 5-0, but I wasn't buying the undefeated record. The first five victories were against, Washington, Dallas, Tampa, Kansas City and Oakland. Then New Orleans hands them a serious beat down last Sunday and last night, Arizona (who has a horrible record on east coast night games) beats the G-men at home. New York's schedule over the next five weeks will determine their season. Brandon Jacobs is not running with authority and perhaps Eli's heel injury is worse than reported and I wouldn't be surprised to see Dallas or Philly end up winning the division.

San Diego- This is the team I really thought was poised to make a run for the Super Bowl this season. But, just as in years passed, they are failing to meet expectations. LT is really showing his age. Chris Chambers has really lost a step. Sproles is not an every down back. If Norv Turner doesn't get it in gear, he might very well be looking for a job on January 4th, 2010 (along with Junior Morris) And don't be shocked to see Jon Gruden on the sidelines in San Diego next year if Turner gets fired. You heard it here first!

Sometimes, good material just can't slip away

Health and Human Services Director, Kathleen Sebelius testified before Congress regarding the status of the Swine flu on Tuesday. This is the woman who instructed all of you loyal to the Motherland, how to sneeze. She mandated a few weeks ago that you WILL get the Swine flu vaccine. She has presented the perfect photo op with some captions. Supposedly, she had some sort of surgery, perhaps a lobotomy would have been in order.

Possible captions,

- Kathleen auditions for the lead role of Bea Arthur in the movie remake of the Golden Girls.

-HHS Secretary warns the American public, once tequila is consumed, sex should never be an option.

-Kathleen has her eye on you.

-Just before her testimony to Congress, Kathleen Sebelius sat on a Magic Bullet left behind from the previous person testifying. Twist and turn, just 10 seconds and you're done.

-If "O" can smoke in the White House, why the hell can't I light up my Sharpie here?

-Witchland, North Dakota Holiday Inn lounge singer Sarah Sunrise petitions the court for custody of her children.

- (with some SS collar tabs on her shirt) "Veee have Vayyys to make you talk.......

-(Thinking to herself...) How long to I have to play along with this shit before I can get a gig over at Fox and not have to deal with you aholes any longer?

-the right eye for the left guy

-I wonder if those internet ads claiming no botox really do work.........

-Congressman? Did you just sneeze improperly? Can I get security in here NOW.

-HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was on her way to Capitol Hill to testify on Swine Flu when she was hit in the eye with a snowball from children out of school on a snow day, during Global warming.

This administration just keeps giving great material. Maybe Kathleen just sneezed in the wrong elbow and caught her eye on a stray button. Damn, I'm glad Al Gore created the Internet so we all can share these funnies.

Week 7 picks almost halfway though the regular season????

Well, I've had two 9-5 weeks back to back. This week, I've got to break out of this funk and I'm going with some bold picks. I did pick Kansas City to defeat Washington last week correctly. 9-5 and a season record of 66-24.

San Diego v. Kansas City- I picked San Diego last week to defeat Denver on Monday night. Denver inflicted a beat down. I have a feeling that Matt Cassell is getting familiar with his team, Dwayne Bowe had a great game finally last Sunday. San Diego has little defense and this game will be a shootout between division rivals but Kansas City wins it's second game.

Indy v. St Louis- Rush, be glad the NFL and the media ran you out of the Rams ownership deal, you wanted to buy an NFL team, the Rams aren't a Division I-A NCAA team, 16 loses in a row and counting. Peyton Manning will have time to film another commercial by the 4th quarter of this one. Is there a product the Manning family WON'T endorse?

Chicago v Cincinnati- This is a trap game. Chicago lost on MNF and is coming off a short week. Cincy lost a game they should have won at home last week to a manic Houston Texans team. I can't go against Cincy, having their second consecutive home game, (and now that we have a Bengal cat in the house, if I went against the Bengals, I'd not get a decent night's sleep until the end of football season)

Green Bay v. Cleveland-The only easier pick this week is the New England/Tampa game. Green Bay large, and Aaron Rodgers is wishing he had a commercial to film on the sideline by the 4th quarter.

Minnesota v. Pittsburgh- This might be the toughest game of the week to predict. Minnesota had a large lead on Baltimore last week, then late in the game, the Ravens clawed their way back within a missed last second field goal attempt of winning. Cleveland hung with the Steelers last week for a while and covered the 14.5 point spread. Both teams have quarterbacks able of slinging the ball around and both teams have issues with pass defense. As a football fan, I look forward to watching this match up, then again, I was looking forward to watching the Giants and Saints last week too, we know how that turned out. Minnesota wins this in a very close but high scoring game.

New England v. Tampa Bay- Please. 41-6 New England as we watch Junior Morris continue to complete his one and done season ruining the Bucs.

San Fran v. Houston- Mike Singletary no doubt had a few words to say to his team during the bye after getting crushed at home by the Atlanta Falcons. But, I've got to go with Houston at home after being on the road for two weeks and Schuab to Johnson will light it up this Sunday.

NY Jets v. Oakland- After watching the first three games of the Jets season, I was about ready to pencil them into the playoffs, but a funny thing happened on the way to grab the pencil. Matt Sanchez realized he's a rookie. I was forced to watch the Jets/Bills late game on Sunday, and as Sanchez threw up 6 picks, I had flashbacks to Vinny Testaverde in the 80's launching picks in orange and white. Oakland shut down a good Philly team, limiting them to only 9 points. Jets Dline anchor Kris Jenkins is done for the year and Oakland wins it's second in a row.

Buffalo v. Carolina- If this game were the only NFL game I could see this week, I'd rather watch competitive cup stacking on ESPN, I rather watch the magic bullet infomercial, hell, I'd rather watch anything on Lifetime than watch this game. Trent "the human concussion" Edwards, who is rapidly competing with Marc Bulger for the league leads in concussions, will most likely not be playing. Carolina's quarterback, Jake Delhomme has seemingly been playing with a concussion for 6 weeks of this season, both defenses are playing poorly, Carolina wins by a safety, 25-23.

New Orleans v. Miami- regular readers of the blog know I picked New Orleans as the NFC representative team to go to the Super Bowl which is in Miami this year. Brees and company will have a walk through in Miami on Sunday as they get ready for the big game in February. Miami's wildcat makes for an entertaining game in the first three quarters, but Brees throws 4 scores for 365 yards and the Saints put up 40 on the Miami Mullets.

Atlanta v. Dallas- This is another trap game. Dallas plays well coming off a bye. Atlanta won Monday night and winners on MNF don't fare well the following week. I'm playing the odds and going with the Cowboys, but this pick might bite me in the ass.

Arizona v. NY football Giants- Arizona won on the road last week in Seattle, which is a damn tough place to play, however, the Cardinals do not travel well to the East Coast and with the way Eli is throwing the ball and the Birds 31st ranked pass defense, the G-Men win this hands down.

Philadelphia Felons versus Washington Crackheads. Donovan McNabb recovers from whatever funk he was in last Sunday and send the Crackheads into their bye week with a loss and no head coach as Zorn is fired after they lose 37-9 on MNF.

0-6 and nothing on the horizon

I usually do my Bucs breakdown later in the week, but why bother? This team is atrocious. I actually went to a bar yesterday so I could watch the team I've predicted all along to make it to the Super Bowl from the NFC, the New Orleans Saints play the Giants. Off to the side, the Bucs game was on a small tv. With 8 1/2 minutes to go, the Bucs scored on an interception return for a touchdown and the game was tied. I was wearing my Bucs jersey, with Williams name covered over with my protest sign, FIRE MORRIS NOW. My friend looks at me and said, "The Bucs are looking good, their going to win this" Fat chance. I bet him a beer that Carolina would march down the field and win the game. March they did. 16 plays, eating up the 8 1/2 minutes. What was impressive for Carolina (damn, did that just come out of my mouth?) was it was 16 consecutive running plays and a systematic move right down the field.

This team is now surrendering over 170 yards of rushing by opponents per game and on pace to set a league record at this rate. The Bucs had 245 yards of total offense versus a poor Carolina team. New Orleans had 355 yards in the first half. I read an online story this morning that Derrick Ward is upset over his lack of carries on his Facebook page. Channel 10 out of Tampa had video of Antonio Bryant walking off the field yesterday mouthing the words, Tell him to throw me the F-ing ball. The Football Post, this morning, reported that GM Mark Dominik and Director of Personnel, Doug Williams are at odds. A National FOX reported yesterday on rotowire.com reported that he has already heard from inside the staff, Junior Morris is "one and done" this season.

I hope that for the final four remaining home games, that the Bucs ownership will see blackouts. There is no reason to patronize the crap that this team is presenting every Sunday. There is talent on this team, but there is a serious lack of coaching. The team is disjointed. There is no fluidity to the offensive play calling. The defense is flying to the ball on occasions, but there is no tackling and the Bucs might very well lead the league in plays given up over 30 yards this year. (although yesterday's Pats/Titans game might have changed that)

I have watched some pretty terrible football in Tampa. Since 1976, I've only missed 7 games on either tv or radio, so I know from where I speak. Some of those 3-13 teams, 5-11 teams, didn't have the talent that this team has, and that is why this is why this simply comes down to the fact that Junior Morris doesn't have the respect of the players or Jim Bates. I read a report online this afternoon which said the sports radio host on 1040am Tampa, said Junior Morris was seen in a suite with several Bucs players for the USF Thursday night game between the Bulls and Bearcats. Last week on October 15th, Todd Haley, the Head Coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and disciple of Bill Parcells, demoted wide receiver coach Dedric Ward and replaced him with Richie Anderson. When asked why, he said, never let the coaches get too close to the players. Jay Glazer on the Fox pregame show stated as much. Parcells has a slightly higher resume than Junior, who was fetching coffee for the Bucs coaches during the Super Bowl run in Tampa, so I'd tend to embrace his philosophy.

I'm not even going to bother breaking down this weeks game after Brady tossed 6 scores for nearly 400 yards and the Patriots put a massive smack down on the Titans, 59-0. Not to mention the two teams have to play in London and it gets charged as a Bucs home game. I think this game will be close for about the 4-5 minutes during the coin toss and initial kickoff, after that all bets are off. I predict 41-3, and the Bucs are lucky to get three. So after this week, the Bucs have a bye, then Green Bay comes to town. Fittingly, that is the game the ownership chose to wear the throwback uniforms of the 1970-1980's. We are watching it on the field, why not wear the colors. I predicted in August that the Packer game would see the debut of K-State phenom quarterback (NOT) Josh Freeman. That remains to be seen. After the Packers beatdown, the Bucs are at Miami. Did you see how Carolina ran on the Bucs yesterday? How does this team stop the Wildcat? Then 2 games with Atlanta, 2 games with New Orleans, Seattle in Seattle in December, @ Carolina and a home game with the Jets. By the end of the season, the Bucs will be on the end run of a 20 game losing streak. The final game of the season is played on January 3rd 2010. If Junior isn't fired by January 4th, 2010, I really don't think I can follow this team anymore because it will have shown me that the Glazers are making previous Bucs owner High Culverhouse look like a big spender. Hell, the Glazers are making Bill Bidwell in Arizona look like Donald Trump. This was a team which was 8-3 going into December last season and lost the final 4 games to finish 9-7. Wouldn't 9-7 look good about now? Wouldn't some direction for the future look good right about now?