A new season, renewed hope
The other night, after a long day of covering courtroom drama, I was a bit tired and didn’t feel up to slaving away in the kitchen. Besides, I had a hankering’ for junk food. So, I ordered a pizza.
I greeted the delivery person — Zach is his name — and while making small talk with the nice lad, he asked what I did for a living. Judging by my meager possessions and the mason jar of pennies I raided in order to pay for the pizza, I was surprised Zach didn’t already assume I was a newspaper reporter — perhaps he was just being nice.
Well, it turns out the guy is a big fan of this here column. He started asking my thoughts on the upcoming football season and giving me kudos for some of my past writings.
I was touched. Of course, Zach’s praise would have seemed more sincere had it not come at the same time I was reaching into my pocket for a tip; nonetheless, it’s nice to know there’s at least one member of the Vic’s Picks Fan Club.
Zach also commented on how impressed he was with my football prognosticating record from last season. I was taken aback because, you see, it’s rare when people tell me I’m actually good at picking games.
Well, sports fans, while Zach thinks I do a pretty good job at gazing into the football season crystal ball, I’ll be the first to admit that last season’s record was pretty darn mediocre.
You knew things were going bad for me when the number of prominent conservative Republicans involved in gay sex scandals any given news cycle frequently outnumbered my weekly win total — and, thanks to a certain Idaho senator, I’m already behind the eight ball this season.
But, as with any season, I’m going into this year full of confidence and vigor — especially the college season.
So, without further ado, the picks for the first weekend of the 2007 college football season:
Mississippi State (+18) hosting LSU:
Yikes! Just call this one the “Which state was screwed more by the federal government following Hurricane Katrina Bowl?”
LSU is going to be a darn good team this season and, if they didn’t have to play in the brutal SEC, the boys from Baton Rouge would be my pick to win the national title. They’ll win this game easily, but expect the Bulldogs to put up a fight and cover the spread in their most important home opener in years.
Florida International (+38.5) at Penn State:
Check out the list of “games” in the weekend debut of the Big Ten Network: Ohio State vs. Youngstown State; Michigan vs. Appalachian State. What? Cañon City High School was unavailable? I’m taking the Golden Panthers to cover just out of spite.
East Carolina (+28) at Virginia Tech:
The Hokies are going to come out with a whole lot of emotion for this game; as well they should. The entire nation will be rooting for them this season following the school shooting tragedy from a few months ago.
But, it’s been my experience that emotions don’t play well in the Las Vegas sportsbook. And, might I add, the Pirates have won me a lot of money the last couple of seasons: they’ve covered the spread in 19 of their last 26 games overall.
Colorado State (+3) versus Colorado:
The game is scheduled for a 10 a.m. kickoff at Invesco Field in Denver in an effort to cut down on unruly college kids’ drinking. Ha! They don’t give the college kids in Boulder and Fort Collins enough credit. Expect machine-gun like scoring and the over/under of teens throwing up in bathroom stalls by halftime to be at 200. By the way, the underdog is 10-1 against the spread in these two teams last eleven head-to-head match-ups. Take the Rams.
Georgia Tech (+2) at Notre Dame:
The Fighting Irish will be lucky to win five games this season. Meanwhile, the Ramblin’ Wreck are 9-4-1 against the spread in their last 14 games. Sorry, Charlie.
Call your bookies, but if you lose, don’t call me.
The other night, after a long day of covering courtroom drama, I was a bit tired and didn’t feel up to slaving away in the kitchen. Besides, I had a hankering’ for junk food. So, I ordered a pizza.
I greeted the delivery person — Zach is his name — and while making small talk with the nice lad, he asked what I did for a living. Judging by my meager possessions and the mason jar of pennies I raided in order to pay for the pizza, I was surprised Zach didn’t already assume I was a newspaper reporter — perhaps he was just being nice.
Well, it turns out the guy is a big fan of this here column. He started asking my thoughts on the upcoming football season and giving me kudos for some of my past writings.
I was touched. Of course, Zach’s praise would have seemed more sincere had it not come at the same time I was reaching into my pocket for a tip; nonetheless, it’s nice to know there’s at least one member of the Vic’s Picks Fan Club.
Zach also commented on how impressed he was with my football prognosticating record from last season. I was taken aback because, you see, it’s rare when people tell me I’m actually good at picking games.
Well, sports fans, while Zach thinks I do a pretty good job at gazing into the football season crystal ball, I’ll be the first to admit that last season’s record was pretty darn mediocre.
You knew things were going bad for me when the number of prominent conservative Republicans involved in gay sex scandals any given news cycle frequently outnumbered my weekly win total — and, thanks to a certain Idaho senator, I’m already behind the eight ball this season.
But, as with any season, I’m going into this year full of confidence and vigor — especially the college season.
So, without further ado, the picks for the first weekend of the 2007 college football season:
Mississippi State (+18) hosting LSU:
Yikes! Just call this one the “Which state was screwed more by the federal government following Hurricane Katrina Bowl?”
LSU is going to be a darn good team this season and, if they didn’t have to play in the brutal SEC, the boys from Baton Rouge would be my pick to win the national title. They’ll win this game easily, but expect the Bulldogs to put up a fight and cover the spread in their most important home opener in years.
Florida International (+38.5) at Penn State:
Check out the list of “games” in the weekend debut of the Big Ten Network: Ohio State vs. Youngstown State; Michigan vs. Appalachian State. What? Cañon City High School was unavailable? I’m taking the Golden Panthers to cover just out of spite.
East Carolina (+28) at Virginia Tech:
The Hokies are going to come out with a whole lot of emotion for this game; as well they should. The entire nation will be rooting for them this season following the school shooting tragedy from a few months ago.
But, it’s been my experience that emotions don’t play well in the Las Vegas sportsbook. And, might I add, the Pirates have won me a lot of money the last couple of seasons: they’ve covered the spread in 19 of their last 26 games overall.
Colorado State (+3) versus Colorado:
The game is scheduled for a 10 a.m. kickoff at Invesco Field in Denver in an effort to cut down on unruly college kids’ drinking. Ha! They don’t give the college kids in Boulder and Fort Collins enough credit. Expect machine-gun like scoring and the over/under of teens throwing up in bathroom stalls by halftime to be at 200. By the way, the underdog is 10-1 against the spread in these two teams last eleven head-to-head match-ups. Take the Rams.
Georgia Tech (+2) at Notre Dame:
The Fighting Irish will be lucky to win five games this season. Meanwhile, the Ramblin’ Wreck are 9-4-1 against the spread in their last 14 games. Sorry, Charlie.
Call your bookies, but if you lose, don’t call me.
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