Click images for desktop size: "Wanders Remembering" by Blurburger
It was sad fun watching USC beat Notre Dame. Sad because Notre Dame used to be fun to beat. Now Charlie Weiss has turned them into the most miserable excuse for a football team I've ever seen. I've seen some pretty awful teams.
The elation at USC's biggest win ever in the series was dampened when Notre Dame couldn't score a touchdown against out 2nd and 3rd string defense.
The Trojan kids played well. Joe McKnight is fun to watch and the slap dash O-Line played better than expected. Now the schedule gets rough with UCLA, Oregon and Oregon St AND Arizona State huge barriers on the way to the Rose Bowl.
The dogs loved cheering for, singing for and dancing for the Trojans.

And the dreaded E Bike has been through its repairs and will be ready next week. WHEELS! I'm excited about getting to whiz through town again. Even if I can't drive i like to be able to move about.
Last week I was a pretty sad 9-4 in my picks. I was surprised to see that put me in the top 67% and raised me up to the top 73% for the season!
I didn't win the watch though.
I did get to see some games and that's exciting and educational. I've always been a Tom Brady fan but my oh my. There's no superlatives left.
My picks this week should make a little more sense, although that doesn't mean they'll be anymore accurate.
My picks are in Bold.

San Francisco at New York Giants - I don't think the Giants are a very good team but San Francisco is terrible. I can't really imagine the 49er's pulling off the upset. Eli Manning should make enough plays to keep this from being the cruddy game of the week.

New England at Miami - Billichek is too driven to look past a poor team like Miami. The Patriots are breathing ozone, dreaming of immortality and even after the reprehensible dirty play of the Cowboys they are healthy enough to make this a rout.

Tampa Bay at Detroit - This is my game of the week. Being able to watch some of the game opened my eyes. I didn't realize the Buc's had picked up Jeff Garcia! I also really like the Lions with Kitna in control. I'm picking the Buc's as they clearly have the better defense but this is one I really wouldn't mind seeing come down to a last send field goal for either team.

Click images for desktop size: "Tiger" by Apple Inc
Tennessee at Houston - This has become an intriguing matchup. Vince Young of the Titans is banged up. After a solid start the Texans are pretty cold right now. I haven't seen anything of either team, so I'm picking the Titans just because I think less of Greg Landry's coaching style.

Arizona at Washington - The heart of a Joe Gibbs offense is the O-Line and the Redskins line is as banged up as USC's! The Cardinals have lost Matt Linhart for the season. He did a rather heart rending post about it on his blog. But Kurt Warner is playing with a bum arm, even if it isn't his throwing arm I don't know how much pain he can take against a pretty decent Washington front 7. It would be majestic to see Warner stand tough and bring in a winner but majestic things are too rare a thing to waste on a pro football game like this.

Atlanta at New Orleans - Did you see our boy Reggie last week against the SeaHawks? It was so pretty. Atlanta is rallying but I still don't see them rallying enough. The Saints are rallying too and have a lot more to play for.

Baltimore at Buffalo - The Ravens are not playing good ball. The Bills are a team you feel you could cry for. The damning injuries, the stellar play of the first year stater at QB that all lead to last second losses. The Raven defense is playing to well and with pride. And all the emotional subtext is the only thing that keeps this from being the cruddy game of the week.

Kansas City at Oakland - Will Larry Johnson see the reactivating of Priest Homes as a way to truly kick start his season? Its an interesting drama. Will Priest Holmes be able to still play like he did after sitting out for 2 years? The Raiders will be there too but there's not much interesting there.

Click images for desktop size: "Some Pain, No Gain" by NFL Films
New York Jets at Cincinnati - How did these two teams end up having only 1 win each? Last year it looked like this would be their year and now . . . Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson are just too much fun to pick against.

Chicago at Philadelphia - This is a nutso pick - The Bears. But the eagles have looked dreadful when I've seen them, so have the Bears. Common sense says that the Eagles should skate away with this one but somehow I think that the inept way they've won and lost so far this season will culminate in them making a stand in this one.

St Louis at Seattle - This is a real snorer. The biggest drama is whether the Rams will be able to lose them all! The SeaHawks look talented but dreadful. Their QB, Hasslebeck looks indecisive and worried! But .500 will probably win them the division, they'll play harder than the Rams who just want the season to end.

Minnesota at Dallas - After getting drubbed the Cowboys have a lot to prove. Adrian Peterson looked unworldly against the Bears last week but its hard to see him having that kind of success in back to back weeks against a team that will be primed to stop him. The Vikings don't have enough weapons to back Peterson up.

Indianapolis ay Jacksonville - Well, if you thought the Bears pick was nutso . . . I know the Colts are undefeated, I know they're defense is looking unworldly, and I know Peyton Manning has had a week to rest, but Marvin Harrison is probably out for this one and the Jags always play these guys very tough. It just feels like this could be a defining game for them. In fact I'm sure that's how they see it because that's the way they see it every year. My back up game of the week.

Pittsburgh at Denver - A nice game for a Monday night. I don't have ESPN so I might not get to see it. The Steelers Defense is looking very good, the Broncos' D is not. Not much choice there.


Click images for desktop size: "The Face Of Victory" by NFL Films
Watching Mark Sanchez play today got me thinking about Todd Marinovich. He was another USC QB. He got pressed into service when the Starter Pat went down in pre-season. He was unbelievable. He was 18. He led the Trojans to a huge rose Bowl win over Michigan and a number 4 ranking. He made all the front pages and magazine covers as the "Robo QB". All over USC campus were the pins and T-Shirts - "In Todd We Trust". He truly seemed like a miracle.
His father, Craig Marinovich married an Olympic Swimmer, basically to breed a quarterback. Todd's entire life was planned out. His diet was planned. He never had a hamburger or a piece of birthday cake in his entire life.
He could throw the ball 70 yards on a rope. It took at least two men to bring him down.
As a sophomore he began dating an art student. She opened up his eyes to the fact that there was a life outside the football field. A life Todd didn't know existed.
He was like an alien in his home town. He was a kid in need.
He started to argue with the HC, Larry Smith. I was one of those who pushed for Smith's ouster. He didn't know how to respond to a kid in trouble. Smith was a good guy, so were his entire family but he didn't see the Todd was more than just a QB.
Todd started to get into silly Leon Spinks kind of trouble. You know, busted for .05 grams of marijuana stuff. Smith benched him and refused to talk to him.
Todd left school and got drafted by the Raiders in the first round. In his rookie season his first time stepping onto the field for the Raiders was in a playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs. this was when the Chiefs had the most fearsome defense in the league. They were killers. Todd wasn't yet 20 years old. He threw for over 320 yards in that game but only 1 touchdown and 3 picks.
The next year he quit football. He played guitar in a punk band for a while and then he was forgotten.
Now he has a serious drug problem. He's going to go to jail. He's got dozens of arrests for drugs. The last one had him running from the cops and hiding in a parking lot. He had heroin and cocaine in his guitar case.
Its a sad enough story to not need any metaphors or similes to tell it.
I love this game but often I hate the people in charge of it.

My puppy is doing fine.

So am I.

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