Well, my bye week has come and gone, and I’m ready to go, refreshed and invigorated, and looking forward to a great second half of the football season.
Our very first game this week on
Thursday is Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech, with the host team opening as a 2½
point favorite. I watched VA Tech last week almost beat Boston College, and was
impressed enough to bet them straight up on the money line this week. Their
special team’s play should be enough to overcome a very mediocre GA Tech club. On Saturday, Rutgers is a 3 point
underdog at Connecticut, and they also may be a good money line bet. If the line
goes higher, take all the points you can get, as they have a very solid team.
The Number 1 team in the country, according to the BCS, is Ohio State, and their
reputation will probably give a good Wisconsin team at least 16 points. I’ll
have to be a taker here, and hope the Badgers get a few turnovers to fall within
the spread. Incidentally, I think LSU is
still the best college team, due to their amazing defense. It’s almost
unbelievable how far down Notre Dame has gone, but opening as only a 3½
favorite over Navy is one hell of an indication. In the NFL this week all games
will take a back seat to the Pats and Colts on Sunday. I can only speculate on
the winner, but I can assure you the game will exceed any respectable total they
put up. I just got a new shipment of watches, so I’ll again make my offer: If
this game doesn’t go over "You can have my watch." The Bills are a short favorite
over the defenseless Bengals, and I’m going to lay it. If you bet early you’ll
get Oakland minus 3 vs. the Texans, who at this time have a wounded quarterback.
On Monday night I’m forced to take plus 7 on the Ravens, and hope their
defense can slow down the Pittsburgh express. As a very wise man once told me:
"Believe nothing you ever hear, and only half of what you see."
Keeping that thought in mind, I watched the USC-Notre Dame game Saturday on NBC,
as the mighty Trojans shut out the home standing fighting Irish 38-0. The USC
team looked fast, deep in players and totally dominant on the field for the
entire 60 minutes. The Notre Dame team looked slow, sluggish and totally
disorganized throughout the 60 minutes. The problem that arose was which half I
shouldn’t believe. Three weeks ago I wrote about the
LSU coach, Les Miles, pertaining to a giant gamble he took to win a game. Last
week he goes for a touchdown when behind only one point versus Auburn, instead
of kicking a chip shot field goal, and gets the TD with exactly one second left
on the clock. This guy has a future in this town; he’s taken two giant shots
in three weeks with both games on the line and won them both. Several months ago I wrote an
article about the demise of Joe Torre, the long time manager of the New York
Yankees. I love Joe, as does everybody else. He has class and has displayed it
throughout his entire career both as a player and as a manager. He’s a great
role model for all of baseball and for the public as well as the players and all
the other people who are associated with the game. But Joe, you let me down at
the end by yielding to astronomical corporate pressure by giving them an out
when it counted the most. If you remember my past article I
suggested the Yankees would allow Joe to resign with dignity as a public
relations gem for both Joe and management. They came up with a better scenario
and as the beer ad goes, it is "brilliant." But I’m not buying it and
perhaps you won’t either. They offered him $5 million (which is double what
any other major league manager gets) and incentives adding up to an additional
$3 million and tell him to turn it down so he’ll accomplish the dignity aspect
and the management will also look good. "Brilliant." Joe
probably realized the organization had treated him well financially throughout
his tenure and figured he owed it to them and he went for what I believe was
B.S. How about what you did for them, Joe? In 1996 they had probably 20% of what
they have today in terms of corporate net worth. You had to contribute to that
extremely significant rise somehow. Say it isn’t so, Joe. In today’s society we have
deals and cop-outs all over the place. Hopefully I’m way off base and none of
the above is true. Please, Joe, say it isn’t so! In all fairness there are two
sides of any story. For 12 years Joe has been given the best players money could
buy, and in baseball money certainly talks. Under Joe’s leadership the Yanks
had four World Series victories. Does the corporation have the right to expect
more than a .333 batting average from a $7 million dollar man? It’s obvious
that they do, and we certainly must realize that it’s their ball and they can
take it home any time they want. I however as a fan could have
done without the public relations B.S. The Steinbrenners could have made a clean
break and brought the popular Torre to the front office in some capacity and all
would have been cool. As it stands now, we Yankee haters can keep hating them
and dream of next year’s team not even making the playoffs. Oh yes, another reason to get up
in the morning for me, how about you? I can’t wait for spring training in
2008. Have a great week!
