The Evolution of Friends

It's been quite a while since I've posted an article on here that had no reference to sports. Maybe it's because for the most part, life has been static - still no work (although I feel like I'm getting closer to getting work). No work equates to lessening of doing much on the social end of things - less going out to eat, less bar visits, and sadly, the elimination of being a regular member of a bowling team (I am a sub this year instead). So yeah - not much going on that's sparked my mind to write.

But just now, an idea sprung up as I was staring at my Twitter account 10 minutes shy of 4am local time. I was reminded of one avenue of my life that has probably occupied way too much of my time in the past few months, yet has had a great effect on my daily life - and that is Twitter itself.

And it got me to thinking about the evolution of my friendships, starting all the way from my early years as a 4-5 year old to now and how it's all somehow merged into the current life that I live.

I've found seven distinct times in my life of friendships. For the purposes of this blog, I have not mentioned family specifically (even though I consider many in my family to be friends), for I was born into it - you are assumed to be in the range of ages 0 thru current.


1. The Mister Rodgers Friends (ages 4 thru 8) - This is the group of friends who I grew up with, the guys who lived on the block or within a few blocks of my house. The neighborhood friends. Playing ball in front of the house, running around with endless energy, and the random games played, these friends defined the first part of my life. While I still have a couple of friends who I still talk to from this time in my life, unfortunately many of these friends moved away from my neighborhood at a young age before I could get to know them as teenagers and eventually adults. Maybe it was for the better - they could be raging douche bags right now for all I know. The others I lost touch with from this time were usually the product of changed social circles in future school years.

2. The Sports/Club Friends (ages 8 thru 18) - This span of time includes an "amazing" athletic career that spanned glorious Little League seasons and a few less-than-glorious basketball seasons (go ahead, look at the trophies I won, hell if I even know where they are). These seasons ranged from sitting on the bench for the majority of a travelling All-Star team (at the age of 8, I learned very quickly on how badly adults want to win Little League games) to prouder moments, such as a game-winning hit in one of the first night baseball games I ever played (an All-Star match-up between neighboring towns). In between all of these moments developed my second group of buddies. With each baseball level spanning two grades, the only group of kids you ever got to play with every year were the guys in your grade, but I still got to know the kids a year older and a year younger fairly well.

Looking back on it, I don't think I kept many friends from this era of my life either, except when you head into the latter half of the time frame and you focus on the limited clubs I was in during high school. In lieu of athletic talent that translated to making a high school team, I was a Mathlete. I'm not really sure how I managed to go through junior high and high school as a Math nerd while avoiding being picked on or bullied, but here I sit, glad I don't have the mental scars that may come from that. A few friends of mine from Mathletes (Nick and Chris) are important figures in my life - for they inspired my participation in Fit Happens, a weight loss contest that spanned the first half of the year and led to me losing about 35 pounds (sadly, I've probably put back 15-20 since the contest ended). We also interact constantly during the NFL season, even if it's as indirect as participating in a year-long NFL contest for a few years running now. Outside of them though, no friends from this era remain.

3. The Work Friends (Ages 16-17) - While I didn't know it at the time, when I was applying for jobs in the summer of 1999 in hopes of landing my first job as a teenager with a license, I was actually applying for who I was going to spend my adulthood with (and basically applying for the rest of my life). Had another company other than Jewel/Osco (a Chicago-based grocery story) called my parent's house and interviewed me before they did, I doubt I'd have 95% of my current friends (assuming I took the job). In fact, I remember a pizza company calling a day or two after my interview with Jewel - who would my friends be if they called before Jewel and I took that job?

My friend and his wife (I'm two guys away from the groom)

With this group of friends, I drank my first full beer. I've gone on road trips and vacations. I've seen them start serious relationships, have them end, and have others start up. I've stood up in their weddings. I will see them start families. And all the in-between - the cosmic bowling, trips to Beggars Pizza, Monday Nights at Buffalo Wild Wings or a local pub.

And all of this occurs thanks to a thankless job of pushing carts (which was actually my favorite thing to do) and bagging groceries for depressing customers.

Look back on your current base of friends, and try see if you can pinpoint a turning point in your life like this. Before writing this, I didn't realize how mind-blowing this part of my life is in hindsight. I am glad Jewel called me back for an interview, and then hired me. For that $5.45 an hour, I got a whole lot more away from the job.

4. The College Friends (Ages 18-22) - Compared to the previous era of friends, this one pales in comparison. I have a few people I still speak to from U of I that are great friends, but this was a place and time that is remembered in a totally different manner. I have great memories of the dorm days, nights spent on endless hours of Mario Kart and Ladder Matches on the WWF games on my Nintendo 64. When the dorm setting transformed into an apartment life, so did the type of entertainment. Instead of video games, the prime form of fun was the small parties I threw, primarily in my junior year. Those who were lucky enough to see the dances on the mini-fridge will never forget those moments. Strangely, I think I speak with more people who came to those parties (people who went to school at the neighboring Parkland College) than I do with dormmates/classmates from UIUC.



I quickly learned after college that most of these people, especially the guys who I lived in the dorm with, were situational friends - which was probably perfect looking back.

5. The Work Friends, Part 2 (Ages 24-27) - My first professional work setting was during this time. I got this job thanks to a lead from one of my few friends from UIUC. The people I met through this time in my life saw me go through quite the transformation as a young adult, particularly towards the end of my time there. While I'd say I retain a few more friends from this point in my life than college, I would say that many fit in the same position as the college friends, where many of us were friends while working together but completely lost touch when my time there ended.

And I should stress - the situational friends should not be looked at negatively. It's a part of life actually. After all, it's impossible to remain close to that many people when you no longer see them on a daily basis. Remaining close to every person you've had at every school you've been to, every job you've had, is not possible. If you're lucky, some of the ones who are no longer on your daily/weekly routine of work/school will want to get together on a random Saturday afternoon.

6. The School Friends, Part 2 (Age 27-28) - This sequence was a shorter one, as there were fewer people involved in this specific situation. With the broadcasting program I took only occupying 10 months, the time of fraternizing was much limited compared to a 4-year university setting. I knew that I would likely never talk to many of the people I had in class with (about 20 people) once the program was over. And for the most part, it's been accurate. I set up a Facebook group for us to keep in touch, which we do occasionally. I like hearing the good stories that some of them share about work successes that are related to the radio/TV broadcasting classes we took there. And if that's the main part of our relationships going forward, that's ok. I've tried a few times after our program ended in April 2011 for us to get together, but only a few people will even show. I hope all of my friends from this era succeed in broadcasting or whatever it is they decide to do.

7. The Online Friends (Age 28 - current) - While I worked a job at this time, my office settings were such that I did not have opportunities to meet new people and participate in happy hours and other social occasions with co-workers. This also applied to my dating life. The limited number of relationships I had up until this age in my life had been of the traditional "meeting a friend of a friend and dating that person" that has probably occurred throughout time. The problem with this approach is - once you're single again, and your friends no longer have friends to introduce you to, the well dries up. And if you live in a smaller population (i.e. not a huge city like Chicago) like I did, even your options at the bars to meet new people are very limited. If you go into the same bar on the same day of the same week in the Chicago suburbs, you will notice similar faces in the bar every week. Once I noticed this fact, I knew I had to try a different approach to meeting women.

Me and Jen as Peg & Al Bundy for Halloween 2011

You all know the story now -> guy joins online dating website -> guy goes on a few dates -> guy falls in love with a girl -> guy's family/friends become girl's family/friends and vice versa. And with meeting Jen, I have been introduced to my latest group of friends...her friends. With as long as we've been dating though, I don't think there's debate now that they are OUR friends. There's been several times in our time dating where I will actually hang out with some of these people without Jen around. I don't feel any differently around this group than I would my own group of friends.

Also during this time, I have joined Twitter and found a limitless number interesting characters among the 140-character-limit confines of the website. I have found a niche of using Twitter to share my thoughts on sports, as well as some other random material that I normally wouldn't post on Facebook.

One of the most different features of Twitter that Facebook has somewhat installed on its end is the ability to follow someone without them having to follow you - or to more accurately describe the benefit, the opposite should be mentioned - someone can choose to follow your content and what you say, but the follow back is not necessarily a given (while in a Facebook "friendship", you have equal access to their profile as they do of yours [unless you set up some customized security stuff on the side]).  Why is this nice? Personally, I get a kick out of someone, anyone, giving two craps about what I think or say about a subject. Some might be following me just to see who I like in the weekly slate of NFL games - and hey, that's fine too, but maybe it's the narcissistic element of "hey, someone gives a damn what I think about something, and I've never met them face-to-face or even talked to about 90% of these people" that makes me pause and realize the power that this social media has.

College Consolidation & Week 4 NCAAF picks

Super conferences are the newest college trend - move over paying of players! The trend is so prevalent, it's easy to forget there's an actual season going on with all the focus being on the conference reshuffling.

In a few years, I see many of the big conferences in football being the equivalent of the Big East in basketball - 16 teams. Each conference will have its separate divisions for the purposes of a conference championship. Joining one of these super conferences will be THE ONLY WAY that teams like Boise and TCU will have a chance to win a national title.

(An aside - If Boise is one of two teams undefeated at the end of the year, there WILL be a 1-loss team that plays in the championship game in place of them. Every year, teams leap over Boise in the rankings when voters can't justify putting Boise in a spot where they may play in the title game. Boise is the perfect example of why there needs to be some readjustment to the championship system - whether it be an 8 team playoff or the like).

Funny thing is, no matter how big it gets, the Big Ten will never change its name. No wonder why math scores are so low in our country. At least those airheads out west could change their name to the Pac-12. Yeah yeah, I know there is already a Big 12. Can't the Big Ten rename itself The Dirty Dozen for the time being?


Bolek's Bets

After a perfect week of betting in my first week of betting (3-0, +$120), I dipped back into reality with a 3-4, -$35 week last week (including the Th & F games)

Last week: 3-4, -$35; YTD thru 9-17: 6-4, +$85

Already bet - Cincy -7 (-120) - easy victory. Little scare in this bet.

Central Florida +110 ML at BYU - UCF's defense - plus knowing I'll be bored and wanted something to follow - have me betting this Friday night tilt.

SD St +10.5 at Michigan - What may be touted as the Hoke Bowl, Michigan's defense isn't good enough to spot Hoke's former team this many points.

Notre Dame -6.5 at Pittsburgh - ND showed the type of team they can be last week against MSU when they don't have the turnover issues. I think it carries over here.

Western Michigan +13.5 at Illinois - I think Illinois will win, but I sense somewhat of a letdown. One thing to be weary of - Illinois was embarrassed by W. Michigan at Ford Field a few seasons ago, so revenge could be a factor.

Considering - Oklahoma -19.5, Alabama -11, Clemson -2.5

As always, follow my Twitter feed for updates if you'd like @brianbolek or www.twitter.com/brianbolek

Enjoy your weekends.

Love/Hate - Football Style & College Picks - Week 2

The NFL offseason brought about some things about teams and players that I love, some on the opposite spectrum.

I love...the fact that the NFC West still appears to be weak as hell. This gives the Niners a fighting chance to win the division.

I hate...that we are giving Alex Smith yet another chance to prove himself. I'm not sure if Harbaugh is a mad scientist or what, but he has been on record as saying he wanted Smith to be back with the team. I'm not saying Kaepernick is the answer, but I'd almost rather throw a rookie out there. It's not like Smith has done anything to earn the starting spot again.

I love...at least for week 1, the disrespect that the Buccaneers are getting. Tampa went 10-6 last year, but missed the playoffs based on losing a tiebreaker to Green Bay. I know that Tampa had a somewhat weak schedule, but they took advantage of it, sweeping Carolina and their 4 NFC West games on their way to a 9-1 record versus sub-.500 team. I know they need to do better against good teams (only win was Week 17 against the Saints, who benched their starters), but I think their core of players will keep them on the right side of .500 this year. Their only loss in that 9-1 stretch, coincidentally, came to the team that is next on my list.

I hate...how much love the Lions are getting from across the spectrum of media. Believe me, this is hard to say with how much money I made on Detroit games last season. I'd like Detroit's chances a lot better if LeShoure didn't get hurt for the year, because he would have been a great compliment to speedster Jahvid Best. Also, their other impact rookie, Nick Fairley, won't be starting Week 1 after having surgery on his foot last month -who knows how long it will take him to have an impact once he does get on the field. And last but not least, Matt Stafford hasn't been healthy for an entire season yet. He's their ultimate key for making the next step and making a playoff run, so I'm waiting to see him play a full season before I can push the Lions forward as a playoff contender.

I love...that Favre is finally out of the NFL. The media (not him) tried bringing his name back into the circles of conversation with rumors of him going to the Eagles as a backup and the Colts when Manning's status to start the season was in doubt. The first rumor, let me say, was about the most laughable rumor in the history of rumors. Does anyone actually believe that Favre would be a willing back-up for someone? The Colts would have been more reasonable, but Favre would have likely been murdered if he decided to go back out there.

I hate...that the Texans are now the favorites in their division and getting some media love. Before Manning's injury was known to be one that could have him missing the season, the Texans were a sleeper division pick. Don't get me wrong - I think the Texans will win the division and deserve to be the favorite at this point. I'm just being a Pouty Pete because I wanted them to be more of underdogs going into the season so that my prediction back in August would look more ballsy.


With those things being said, I am making my first college picks of the year in week 2. Games are Saturday games. Likely making them $44 plays.

Michigan +3 over Notre Dame - I think Michigan is going to thrive behind their home crowd in the first game under the lights at the Big House. I usually end up betting this rivalry game and betting it wrong, so you make want to play Notre Dame for all you can.

Oregon -27 over Nevada - Oregon is not happy after their performance against LSU and will put a hurting on Nevada here.

Tulsa -12 over Tulane - This is complete degenerate action here, but a lot of the good handicappers on Covers (the site I use for gambling research) are loving this line, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

I'll likely have another NFL blog up by Monday, with a possible pick for Monday's game.

Have a good weekend folks, and enjoy opening weekend of the NFL - I know I will.

QB or not QB: The Cynical Views of a 49ers Fan

Not much since the Jeff Garcia era has gone right for the San Francisco 49ers - from the numerous coaching changes to the botched QB decisions. No matter how you dice it, as a #1 pick, Alex Smith has failed to become the franchise guy that any team who drafts a QB with the top selection should expect. Yet....for some reason, the Niners/Harbaugh want to bring the model of inconsistency back into the fold for next year. I guess it makes some sense, given the lack of practice time that any new QB, including Colin Kaepernick, would have due to the lockout.

On the bright side (and the only bright side) I can find about bringing Smith back is that he finally may have a competent offensive mind to work with. Harbaugh had a big hand in developing Andrew Luck into the future 2012 #1 pick (barring injury) and also putting Stanford football on the map in a very short amount of time, capping off his last season with the Cardinal in a very impressive romping of V-Tech.

With the drafting of a new QB, you'd think I'd be happier, given the impending end of the Alex Smith era and the hope of success with the young guy. However, Kaepernick enters the NFL on similar terms as Smith did: both men played on offenses in college that make for a difficult transition into the pro game. Smith played under the tutelage of Urban Meyer while Meyer was still an up-and-coming coach for Utah. Meyer emphasized the "spread offense", which usually uses 4-5 receiver sets to space out defenders and give the offense more room to run and pass. In college systems like this, the QB used is often quick and usually has an option to run or pass. Here are Smith's statistics in his junior year, after which he declared for the NFL draft:

• 32 TDs, 4 Ints in 317 attempts for 2952 yards, completing over two-thirds of his passes in the process
• 135 attempts for 631 yards (deceiving because in college, they count sacks as negative rushing yards), 10 TDs rushing

Comparably, Kaepernick just finished his college stint at Nevada playing in the Pistol formation, which is almost a merger of the shotgun and the I formation, except it's just 1 running back behind the QB as he stands in shotgun. Like Smith, Kaepernick's system emphasized the option as a big part of its offense, resulting in some well-rounded Smith-like stats for CK's senior year campaign:

• 22 TDs, 8 picks in 359 passes for 3022 yards, completing about 65% of his passes
• 173 attempts for 1206 yards (7 yards/carry) for 20 TDs

In each man's last seasons, both contributed exactly 42 TDs (roughly 3.5 per game), with Smith having the edge in passing efficiency and Kaepernick literally running away with the rushing title between the two. Both men had similar yardage and completion totals. Both men also took great advantage of the systems that allowed them to put up the stats that they did.

However, it remains to be seen whether Kaepernick will fall prey to the system QB problem that Smith had. Lining up under center is a lot different than in an option-based shotgun formation, which could never work in the NFL due to the speed of the game. I do think that both quarterbacks will benefit from having a former QB coaching them.

If neither can succeed with this guy as coach, then forget about it. Personally, the inevitable signing of Alex Smith is puzzling, but since it is inevitable, I'd like to see both the new coach and the motivation of a draft pick to light a fire under his ass to give Smith a decent chance at improvement.

Time will tell, and hopefully time will allow this to play out as scheduled. I wish whatever QB plays this year the best, and hopefully the best results in our first division championship since Mooch was coach.

Bowl Chumpionship Series

On the eve of bowl season about to begin, college football teams are releasing 2011 and 2012 schedules. I happen to catch the nonconference powerhouses that Illinois is going to play in those two years. If you aren't already seated, I suggest doing so, as these powerhouse names will potentially give you a heart attack:

2011
Arkansas State
South Dakota State
Arizona State
Western Michigan

2012
Western Michigan
@Arizona State
Charleston Southern
Louisiana Tech

Outside of Arizona State, who was a very competitive Pac 10 team this year (i.e. lost to Oregon by lower double digits when compared to Oregon's normal beatdowns against teams), those are all home games in September that Illinois should win. You got those ignorant assholes like Ohio St's president who said teams like Boise and TCU, if undefeated, don't deserve to play in the title game because of their soft schedules. I really don't feel like looking up their schedule, but I know OSU's schedules in an average September look very similar (at least 3 of 4 games are at home and against bottom-tier college teams that are willing to get destroyed on the gridiron in exchange for a cut of the money produced for the game). Schedules like this are encouraged for the big conferences, who often have 7-8 different bowl game tie-ins after the season ends. In order to qualify for a bowl, you need 6 wins. With 8 conference games for a typical conference, a team can go 2-6 or 3-5 in conference and still make a bowl. This is accomplished by scheduling a minimum of 3 patsies that will allow you to rape them with a pigskin for 60 minutes (3 hours, 15 minutes in actual time) - AT YOUR OWN HOME NO LESS!

Meanwhile, Boise State has to schedule at least 2 of 4 nonconference games against respectable BCS schools (this year, Virginia Tech and Oregon State), win those games convincingly, win their conference games even more convincingly and pray that all of the BCS schools get at least one loss on their schedule somewhere - and even then that's not enough. How many teams leapt over Boise State this year (before they lost to Nevada), even though Boise started the year ranked 3rd? If Boise was a major market team, they would have ascended to 1 or 2 at some point in the season based on losses in front of them. Now, I know they lost a few weeks back and TCU would be a better example this year, but all I'm saying is that there is absolutely ZERO chance of these teams ever making the championship game no matter what they do, because the people who vote in these polls that heavily influence the BCS standings will always find a way to say that Boise's (or Team X in non-power conference) schedule is too soft and thus put them in a lower position as a result. If you're ever in Vegas looking at betting futures odds, I'd never invest a single dime in a non-BCS school's chances of winning the title.


Now the Week 14 final pick...Hou/Balt over 46 ($66 to win $60): I'm too lazy to write an extensive write-up, but I'll just say that I expect this to be a passing game for both teams (Houston's pass D is the worst in the league), and wouldn't be surprised to see a pick-six or two. I see this around a 30-27 final score.

Week 14 picks from Thurs-Sun: 4-2, $80; Year-to-date in NFL: 32-26, +$88


Turn out the lights, the party's over.

Big Ten: 12 Teams, 0 Common Sense

Let's add another team to the 11-team Big Ten Conference. Also, let's play football in a baseball park that can't fit a field comfortably.

Ok, so I'm generalizing a little by lumping all twelve teams (counting Nebraska) into the idiocy label. I just don't get how the conference can be hyping up the Northwestern/Illinois game so much while not taking into account that they might not have designed the field properly for football. You would think this would be the first thing they would take care of before anything.

How they should have done it:

(1) Use computer generated model of a standard college football field to see if they can play inside what is now a baseball stadium.

(2) If such dimensions exist, organize field as such so that THE WHOLE FIELD, endzone to endzone, can be used.

(3) Play the game, which will bring some excitement to Wrigley Field for the first Autumn season since 2003 (I can't count the other appearances which resulted in Cubs sweeps).


How they actually did it:

(1) NCAA, desperately seeking new ways to exploit amateur athletes, enthusiastically announce that Wrigley Field will be the site of a Northwestern home game.

(2) People start randomly painting yard lines in a certain direction. They soon realize that there's about a foot to spare between the back of an endzone and the brick wall (now covered by padding).

(3) NCAA, Big Ten, and NU/UI officials agree to play offense going only one way on the field, a DAY before the event they started organizing a year ago. Apparently, their goal of having the players practice for their future Arena League careers wasn't in the cards.

(4) Executives of aforementioned organizations are drowning in too much money to actually give a shit about this major embarrassing flub.


Stupid Big Ten and stupid Wrigley Field.

With that being said, my pick for the week.

Northwestern (+8) vs. Illinois: I'm not quite sure why this number is so high. I know NU is starting a new QB, but NU had a similar issue years back with an injured QB and came out just fine with the newbie. Fitzgerald has done well in his short coaching career versus U of I, and I believe they've won their last two against the Illini as underdogs. Illinois is coming off a pair of embarrasing defensive performances, the latest to the bottom-feeding Minnesota Gophers, to whom no legitimate team should lose. I don't see this game being a two-score win for Illinois, so take the points.

I don't feel like looking up my record, but I know my record two weeks ago was 3-0 for $150. I'm fairly confident in this one and am putting down $110 to win $100 on NU.

For Sunday, so far I'm liking the Bills getting 6, Indy getting 4, and the Jets/Texans under of 46.

Peace out everyone and have a great weekend.

-B-Bo

Redemption

Nothing like the Shawshank kind, but I've been an advocate of this word a lot this year. With all the self-inflicted wounds that I have healed as best as I can, I've learned a lot about myself and how I can become a better man. I've had great people surrounding me during these times, making the climbing out of the muck transition a lot easier. With that, my confidence has grown and much of my life (save the love life) has been what I wanted.

Applying this attitude towards my handicapping skills will be no different. Every gambler goes through rough patches, and instead of panicking, the best way to handle the bad times is to keep your cool and keep everything in perspective. Greener pastures remain in sight on all horizons in life.

Ok...enough of that emo self-reflecting crap...

College picks for week 10 of college football, pick in bold as always:

Last week: 0-3 (first 0-fer this year), -$165, YTD: 15-16-1 (-$154)...not doing so hot lately, eugh. Getting pwned

Illinois (+3) at Michigan: Last week I made the mistake of erasing the only bet that I would have won only to replace it with a bet that got beat to shit. I forgot if I referenced it as a homer bet, but f- that this week. Michigan is in a tailspin and can't stop anyone (allowing nearly 40 points a game in Big Ten games). While I don't think either team will approach that number this week, I feel that Illinois' solid D will be able to contain Denard enough to keep things respectable on the scoreboard. I say Illinois walks away from Ann Arbor a victor and one step closer to being ranked for the first time this year.

Arizona State (+5.5) at USC: Despite its 4-4 record, ASU has been playing very competitve this year, having the distinction of losing by the least amount of points to Oregon this year (11). USC got it handed to them in an emotional game last week against those Ducks. A letdown from playing #1 Oregon to a lesser opponent should be expected, especially since Oregon was basically USC's bowl game for the year (with their bowl ban in effect for this year).

Iowa at Indiana (+17.5): After a pair of home games featuring ranked opponents, including last week's whoopin of MSU, Iowa is due for a letdown (There we go with that letdown word again...). Anyways, Indiana is more competitive at home, losing close games to NU and Mich. Not to say Iowa is in the class of those teams (much higher obviously), but I say Iowa wins by about 10.

Consider this my rise to power once again.

Dollars won > dollars earned

Highway to Helloween

October 31st, 2009: Oh how I remember it oh so very clear. It was a sunny fall morning, and I had just placed a bet on Indiana (+17.5) for $100 on my favorite gambling site Bookmaker. I had twisted Tim's arm into betting it with me, so now I was doubly excited to see the fruits of my knowledge grow into profit for the day. I remember betting against Iowa because of their knack for keeping games close, regardless of opponent. Things started great, with Indiana jumping to a 21-7 lead at half on what turned out to be an incredibly windy day at the stadium. The lead peaked at 17 with an Indiana field goal early in the 3rd, but that was when things went completely bonkers. Mind you, I'm being spotted +17.5 so the lead is actually 34.5 (or just under 5 touchdowns). However, 5 touchdowns later, including a 29 yard rushing touchdown with a minute left on 3rd down for Iowa, led to one of the most heartbreaking losses in gambling history for me. Earlier in the week, I nearly suffered a heart attack when Miami (+6) blew a huge lead against New Orleans and ended up losing straight up by 12 after allowing a pick 6 with about a minute or two left. That cost me a ML bet I had on Miami and also a 3-4 team parlay in which the first legs of it already came in.

Lesson of the above story: Gambling is not for the faint of heart.

With that being said, let's see if I can avenge the ghosts of yesteryear and make some money with college football:

College week 9 with picks in (bold)...last week: 1-3 (including Thursday night game), -$125....YTD: 15-12-1, +$66


Mich St (+6.5) at Iowa: Michigan State just keeps on winning, their latest being an impressive comeback against Northwestern on the road. If MSU would have just blown out NU, I might be inclined they'd be in for a let down. However, a team who has done nothing but win so far shouldn't be getting 6.5 points i n a situation like this. I think MSU has a good chance to win this game, so I'll gladly take the points here. I consider this my strong bet of the day. It should be a close game either way and very well could be a defensive-based game.

Arizona (-9) at UCLA: By no means is this me betting against UCLA strictly based on a revenge factor. UCLA clearly did not trust their freshman quarterback against a very talented Oregon team, running the ball 47 times vs. 23 passes in a 60-13 drubbing. Normally when you start trailing by, I don't know, 2-3 scores, you start passing the ball, but not these guys. UCLA's strategy was that of a team that knows it sucks and can't be a two-dimensional offense. Meanwhile, Arizona possesses a top 30 offense and a top 10 defense. The only way AZ doesn't cover here is if they are looking ahead to their game at Stanford next week. I say Arizona shuts down the Bruins by 20.

Oklahoma State/Kansas State (Over 67): OK St. enters the game as the 2nd highest scoring team in the nation (48.3 points per game) while yielding 30.6 points and near the bottom of college football in passing yards allowed (286). KSU puts up 34 a game themselves while allowing a more modest 26/game. However, their 428 yards allowed/game suggest that Ok St. should be able to move the ball, with or without their top receiver. I expect this score to be in the high 70s.

I may or may not bet equal amounts on these games. I'll post totals of what I bet on each later tonight. I'm definitely liking Mich St the best. I had an Illinois write up all ready to convince myself to bet them, but (1) it felt like a homer bet, (2) Illinois may be due for a moderate let-down after a convincing homecoming win over Indiana and (3) 17 points is a lot to lay on a team that is fairly mediocre offensively.

Let's hope to avoid the Helloween misfortune from last year and make some money.

By the way, I'm going as Brett Favre to a costume party. I haven't decided yet about any of my decisions once I get to the party regarding food, alcohol consumption and whether I am going to textually harass anyone. Just assume the answer to all of those would be what you would expect.

Peace.

Week 8 college picks - Time to get back on the gravy train

Even a shit-faced Belushi would be coherent enough to make these bets.

Another week, another college football write-up day, with bets bolded in ( ):

Last week posted picks: 2-1; year to date: 14-10-1 (took a shot on UCLA last night foolishly, oops), +$126

Illinois/Indiana (under 55.5): Illinois is a run-first team, 29th in the nation with 200 yards/game on the ground, with passing near the bottom at 136/game. While Indiana's offense and defense tend to lend itself towards overs (5th nationally in passing yards, bottom third in the nation in yards allowed), Illinois will dictate the pace of this game with their running and surprisingly sharp defense (19th in the nation in yards allowed). A quick look at the weather report also shows 20mph winds around gametime, so if that's the case, Indiana's passing game may not be as strong as week's past. I see this ending in the mid 40s with Illinois winning about 27-17.

Wisconsin at Iowa (-6, hoping to get at 5.5 or 5): It seems like a high number to give a team like Wisconsin who just beat the number 1 team in the nation. I believe Wisconsin fed off of the emotion of the home crowd (I think OSU is still a better team than Wisconsin) and a let-down in a game like this on the road is natural. Iowa is starting out its Big Ten season in style, beating up on Penn St and knocking out Denard & UM on the road last week. Iowa's won 8 of the last 10 meetings. A few weeks back, UW lost to MSU on the road by 10- that's where I put Iowa at for this week, 10-14 point win.

LSU at Auburn (under 51.5): No question that Les Miles is as big of a maniac of a coach as there is in the coaching ranks of any sport. One thing he knows how to do is win though. Statistically speaking, LSU is top 10 nationally in passing yards and rushing yards allowed (3rd overall). Being a road underdog won't intimidate Miles and his squad, who have seemed to play to the level of their competition. Auburn's stout offense hasn't faced a defense like this yet. And Auburn's defense, towards the middle of the pack in the nation, may not have its defensive weakness exposed as LSU is terrible in the passing game and 92nd in the nation in total yards. I expect this to be a defensive battle between two teams fighting to stay in the championship game conversation, around the lines of 20-16.

As you can see, this is the first week where I looked at some statistics in my bets. We'll see how well this works. Bet at your own risk, but also remember....it's not gambling when you know you are gonna win. So let's do it.

Holding off on betting game 6 of the Yanks series tonight. My obvious rooting interest in NYY, plus the risk of $80 going down from earlier in the year if they lose tonight, is enough for me. I would probably bet on Cliff Lee in game 7 if there is one if only to pseudo-hedge my World Series bet.

I think Phillies force a game 7 tomorrow.

Head-lines, lines in head

Ride the chalk this week, says sports prognosticator/future plus-sized model Brian Bolek

Lines are always stuck in my head from different facets of life. Every now and then, a good lyric gets stuck in my head. There's lines that people may say to me that become entrapped in my consciousness. And of course, in the fall months of the year, I always have monetary Vegas football lines processing in order to get easy money. In both cases, perspective is needed in order to analyze said lines to see what to make out of them.

Now that I've wasted your time with that opening paragraph, here's the lines that have been trapped in my head and what I will be betting Saturday.

NCAA (last week: processed bets (1-1, $5), YTD: (12-8-1, $136))

Bets in ( ), all $55 to win $50

Illinois at Mich St (-7): I've been battling making this bet because I am fading my homeboys, but I'm in the business of making money, not making friends with school boosters. All signs point to a let-down on MSU's part after convincing wins against Wisconsin and Michigan, which is why this line is at -7 and not -9.5 or 10 in my opinion. However, the same can be said of Illinois and their first straight-up win at Happy Valley last weekend. If you asked any Illini fan if they would take a 1-2 run with this team with consecutive games against Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan State, I think we'd gladly take it. Illinois is improved and I believe they will get the six wins necessary to get into a mediocre bowl, but I think they take one on the chin this week against a more talented team. Mich St by 14.

Iowa (-3) at Michigan: So I've been told Denard Robinson gave a passionate Tebow-like speech after the UM loss to their little brother MSU. That's great and all, but like my last week's post stated, I don't think speeches can knock down passes and prevent runners from getting into the end zone. When they do, we might be onto a new wave of sports strategy. Iowa is a great value here, especially coming off of a bye. Iowa by 10-14. Let the second-half of season panicking begin again for Ann Arbor.

Texas at Nebraska (-9.5/10): Nebraska is the best team in the Big 12, sorry Oklahoma. Unlike last year, they have an offense that compliments a world-class defense. Texas is definitely in a state of recession as far as their program goes, at least for a year. Texas is coming off of a bye, but that's nearly negated by the 9 day lay-off Nebraska has had since whomping Kansas State on a Thursday night road game. Lay the points.

Normally I don't ride the chalk this hard, but these lines got my attention the most. Any line that catches your attention deserves scrutiny, but trust your instincts.

Ride chalk this week and ride them hard. Like a spry 18-year old on prom night.

Also, riding the Yanks tonight against the Rangers tonight to win $40. Let's continue the perfect streak and make it a 7-0 start to MLB playoffs.

NFL week 5- $ome more pick$

After looking at my first post, I wasn't sure what direction this blog was gonna go in, but it should have been clear to everyone that this was going to be a sports blog with my gambling diatribes as a centerpiece.

College bets that were booked were 1-1, profit of $5 since I bet a little more on Mich St. (my lock of the weekend). Northwestern is a team I have to lay off for the time being, as they seem to play up (or down) to the level of their competition. NU ended my personal 6 bet winning streak, which followed a 6 bet streak that was ended by another Chicago-based team (the Bears), thus giving me reason to avoid the local teams. 12 out of 14 in the gambling world is nothing to sneeze at, but can't get too comfortable and excited when there's more money to be made. Gotta keep the focus and the faith. Let's start another streak and go for that elusive 5-0 week (a 4-1 weekend again would be no problem either).

NFL week 5 picks, here we go, with my bet in ( ):

Denver (+7) at Baltimore: Denver has been an under the radar team, mainly because of their inability to run the ball. Orton has picked up the slack and currently leads the league in passing as a result. They've been in every game going into the final quarter, losing to Jax by 7 and Indy by 14 (the latter due to the lack of a red-zone offense). On the other side, there's Baltimore, who is coming off a comeback victory over their #1 rival Pitt with a late-TD to secure the victory. While I expect Baltimore to be a team that can overcome the idea of a letdown game following such a victory, I think such a letdown is hard to avoid. I expect Balt to win a close battle by 3-4 points.

KC at Indy (-7): Indy is coming off a loss caused by some key turnovers and an insane game-ending field goal. KC has had a few weeks to prepare for this, but the fact that Indy lost last week gives me the feel that their focus will be on this game more than in years past where this might have been one of those "I can't wait to win this and move onto the next week" games. I expect Indy to show KC to be the future 8-8 team that they will be and win by two touchdowns, 31-17.

NYG at Hou (-3): NYG benefitted last week from the one-dimensional offense that the Bears feature. With no running game to worry about, NYG went on to set NFL history for most sacks in a half by consistent pressure- in the process knocking out golden-boy Cutler out of the game and having Bears fans searching for their nearest bottle of liquor and immediately injecting it into their veins. With a duel running/passing feature that Houston features, it'll be hard for NYG to do this again. While Houston's defense is nothing to worry about, NYG might be in trouble if Bradshaw can't play (Jacobs is a shadow of his former self and would make it necessary for Manning to lead the team to victory). I expect Houston to win by 7-10 here.

SD at Oakland (+6): I know Oakland hasn't fared well vs. SD lately, losing like the last dozen games or so in a row. Also, Darren McFadden is hurt. However, Michael Bush, who was tabbed by the team to be the feature back until he broke his thumb in the preseason, is a formidable back who can and will fill in for DMc very well. The Raiders aren't the same team in year's past that were forced to play JaMarcus Russell because of his bloaded contract. While Bruce Gradkowski isn't exactly Philip Rivers in terms of skill level, he's a guy who will keep his team in games. And taking the points here, I seem to be burying the lede - San Diego sucks!!! on the road, looking crappy against Kansas City and Seattle (in both cases, they were favorites). This line seems to be an example of people valuing previous years' results vs. actually looking at a team's tendencies now. I have Oakland winning this game and knocking some people out of their respective survivor pools.

New Orleans at Arizona (+6.5 or whatever they close at): If it smells like a line that's too good to be true, it usually is. Everyone is backing NO due to Ariz going to a rookie QB to replace Derek Anderson. But really, how much worse can it get than DA? This is Ariz's only chance of salvaging something out of this season (and yes, they have a shot being in the NFC We(r)st division). Call me crazy, but I think Max Hall finds Larry Fitz a lot more (and a lot more accurately) than Anderson did. New Orleans once again found themselves in a tight fourth quarter battle for the 4th game in a row last week, edging Carolina by two. NO doesn't have the flow they had last year, and with their top 2 backs ruled out for tomorrow, I don't see them getting that flow back. I wouldn't be surprised if Arizona won, but I have NO winning yet another close one by 2-3 points. Let's say 27-24.

All bets are $55 to win $50.

Record in all sports since I restarted my gambling ways on September 4:  30-17-1 (+$486).

And by the way, go Yankees! 7 more wins till my preseason WS bet coming in.

Money won is twice as sweet as money earned

Since I'm pressed for time and want to get my football picks on record to see if I can continue my streak: (10 of last 11 bets won, including 3 straight baseball bets, with pending bet of Braves winning tonight), gonna write a short write-up:

Illinois (+8) over Penn State- Not a homer pick. I think Illinois rides the momentum from last week against Ohio State and at least keeps it within a score, possibly wins. Penn State hasn't impressed at all this season. Take the points.

Wisconsin (-21.5 or whatever) over Minnesota- Wisconsin is a strong team and are licking their chops over the loss from last week which essentially erased any chance of them contending as a darkhorse championship team. Minnesota blows and was lucky to cover against NU last week. Wisconsin by 31.

Mich State (+4.5) over Michigan- For as good as Robinson is playing, he can't play defense. MSU is solid and this line should be at 3 honestly. If Michigan State loses, it won't be by more than 4 points.

Might bet more, but that's the early slate of games I like. Just a coincidence that they are all Big Ten.

Notes added 10-9-10 at 4:50: (Only bet I was able to get in was the MSU line, which works perfectly. State is absolutely killing here. I was able to get Tim to tag me on this game, so hopefully we can start winning money together here.

Last bet of the day will be Northwestern (-8.5) over Purdue. Purdue is going into the Big Ten season without its top QB and WR, with a redshirt starting QB taking the helm for good a week ago. NU should win this one by about 14.)

Let's keep making money...11-7-1 college record this year, +$131

Enjoy your weekends. I'll be back tomorrow with my NFL picks.

Football Thoughts- Under the Influence of 2 dozen wings

Anyone who says this isn't a healthy meal is a Communist.

If anyone happened to watch the Illini/theeeeeeeeeee Ohio State game, you'd know that talent-wise, there's no reason for theeeeeeeeee Ohio State to win by anything less than 14 points. However, for one reason or another, Illinois has a tendency to suck a little less against theeeeeeeee OSU than it does against other Big Ten teams. I almost bet on theeeeeeee Buckeyes but (a) couldn't bet against my alma mater and (b) remembered the aforementioned fact. If you are getting annoyed by theeeeeeeeee spelling of theeeeeeeeeee, then just imagine hearing it on telecasts, as if you need the unnecessary article in front of any college/university's name. That's probably why I dislike OSU, now that I think about it.

The 2:30 games were entertaining, with my Wild Wings seat facing the Mich St/Wisc and Mich/Indiana games, the latter being an early candidate for Big Ten game of the year. Earlier, I lost bet #1 with NU winning (but not covering the -5) against Minnesota. Bet 2 (Oklahoma -4) was a little nicer to me, but I had the unnecessary sweat at the end. If you've never made a sports bet, you have no idea the stress that a bet that looks good and then looks like it's gonna crumble in front of your face causes to an individual. It could very well be the death of me some day- it's seriously that tough to deal with. Anyways, I digress. I didn't need to sweat bet 3 at all (over 66 in Ore/Stan), as they were at 55 by the half and closed at 83. Also didn't wanna sweat it so I ended up seeing the best band you've never heard of (Modern Chemists). Not only did they rock, but they rocked at a very reasonable price of $free.99. Can't beat that. Keep it up guys. I saw the ending of the 7pm games (which were not as competitive as I thought they would be) during my 2nd trip to B-Dubs for the day. My butthole is going to have its revenge tomorrow.

After 5 college weeks: 11-7-1 and up $131. I promise I will keep this updated accurately and not be a gambler who only talks about his winnings.

Onward to NFL week 4 predictions:

(1) Balt/Pitt under- Granted the total is very low (about 34, but will know official number around 11 tomorrow), but I just don't see either team breaking 20 points here. I smell about a 17-10, 17-13 final. Among my friends, I tend to lean towards unders a lot more than all of them.

(2) Car (+13/13.5) over NO- as mentioned in previous post, I think Carolina's running game (which has been slumping) keeps it close. NO has yet to stop the run against anyone this year. I say New Orleans win by 9.

(3) StL (+1.5/2) over Sea- the Rams have actually looked good through 3 games with Bradford behind center. Seattle's victories have both been at home- I need to be proved wrong before backing them on the road. Also, everyone's a little too quick in annointing them the favorites in the NFC West (the right answer as to who the favorite is, quite simple actually: NO ONE- the whole division sucks).

(4) Wash (+5.5/6) over Phil- I love the points here as well, even though the Skins lost to the Rams last week. Divisional game + McNabb's need to prove Philly wrong in trading him inside the division = a close game. Phil wins, but by only a field goal.

(5) Chi (+3/3.5) over NYG- I still don't see how Chi is an underdog here. The Giants have been blowing so bad and so hard the past two weeks that TMZ reports that even Richard Simmons was blushing at the results. Ok, now I'm pretty sure my computer has HIV after looking that up.

NFL record so far after 3 weeks: 9-8 record, up $16

That's it for now. Let's make some money and also close our weekends off on a most excellent note.

-B-Bo