Gang, remember the UGA-UT contest - pick the final score and you could win stuff - this week and the mailbag.
From the "Talks too much" studio, tonight we skate with them, tonight we play with them because tonight we are the greatest hockey team in the world. (RIP Herb Brooks.)
SEC items of interest
1) Border war
SEC
Southeastern ConferenceTennessee-Georgia means a bunch - on and off the field. When Tennessee is among the SEC elite, the Vols always recruit well in the state of Georgia. Still, this is a contradiction of styles and strengths that leaves Georgia in a significant position of strength. But semblance and personification are better left in lit class. This is football, and debate and discourse take a hike when the ball is kicked.
2) Border war part II
Kentucky-Vandy makes us think of a lot of things. Great home courts. Jefferson Pilot football broadcasts. Did we mention basketball? So what does it mean on Saturday in the Fall? For Kentucky, it is a must-win if any bowl talk can be spoken or heard with any believability. For Vandy, even despite the 17-point Vegas gap, it's likely as close to a conference can-win the Commodores will see.
3) Border war part III
Ole Miss-Memphis on paper seems mismatch-tastic, and it is. And yes, we made that word up. So be it; let it be written and let it be so. That said, how can this can be more interesting than a couple of the other SEC-less-than-power-5 foes on the docket? First, this is the best Memphis team since at least Penny Hardaway was in school. Wait, wrong sport. (Two hoops references in one football rant? Weeds is going to be stoked.) Still Memphis is better than you think. Second, this screams trap game. Ole Miss is coming off a bye and has what shapes up to be a nationally telecast date with Alabama in Oxford in nine days. (Of course, this means Ole Miss will win by 40 and cover the 19. The lesson as always, paralysis by analysis is an entertainment brokers worst enemy. Don't think, Meat, just give 'em the gas.)
4) The SEC's opposite of a border war
Missouri-South Carolina face off in the battle of Columbia. Each team had hopes for winning the East and each is still in the mix. Each also has used a mulligan in the grand scheme of things: USC dropping a stinker against Texas A&M. Missouri laid an egg against Indiana. Two understudy quarterbacks trying to collect the confidence and control of their teams. The most underrated defensive line in the league against arguably the best offensive line in the league. Two really good coaches. Yes please.
5) Old school-new school
Texas A&M's pace and vertical attack. Arkansas' ground and pound. Who you got?
Fab 4 picks plus 1
Well, we have arrived at the week when Vegas has settled in and has a real good idea of who is whom and which teams are trustworthy. We all know Arkansas coach Bret Bielema is a renowned hater of the hurry-up offenses that spread and sliver - and Texas A&M is a forerunner in that genre - but the Razorbacks' run-first, run-always approach is anything but slow. Or low-scoring. Hope they have back-up bulbs for the scoreboard at Jerry's place.
Football tileThat's the key of course in the entertainment investing industry. Finding teams you trust. It's like have a bad gold swing that produces the same shot every time. You can play that shot because you trust. It may not work every time, but you still trust to fade or slice or whatever more times than not. And in entertainment brokering, if you hit 55 percent you are ahead, and if you hit 60 percent, well, you are comfortably ahead.
So who do we trust and why? We trust experience, especially on offense, and we trust stinky teams more than we trust good teams. Why you ask? Well, we have answers.
Since entertainment investing relies on teams covering numbers, you are going to need to score to win. No matter how good a defense is - and we're not ignoring the defenses mind you - you need some offense, and experience matters, in regard to coaches and quarterbacks. First-year coaches are risky plays unless you are going on emotion. Hot-seat coaches also are risky plays because it's really easy to talk yourself into "Their backs are against the wall" when actually, half the team wants the coach gone.
As for trusting bad teams, well, good teams can occasionally play bad. Bad teams rarely flip the switch the other way.
Where does that leave us? Well, it leaves us inching our way back toward 60 percent.
Last week: 6-3 against the spread
This year: 15-11 against the spread
Baylor minus-21 over Iowa State: Experienced offense. Check. High-scoring potential. Check. Team that needs to punish its foe. Check. Triple checks are good, cashing entertainment checks are better. Get the half, and this feels like both. A discount double check - show 'em what you got Raji, Raji.
Auburn minus-32 over La Tech: Over the last 14 games Auburn and Gus Malzahn have failed to cover once - last Thursday in Manhatten (no the other one) - and here's saying the Gus Bus starts a new streak. Quick point and then a side question: Point A about laying almost five TDs: Sometimes that's better than trying to cover 20 because in a true blowout the reserves get in the game and go gangbusters as opposed to the starters staying in and coasting. Side question: With humans involved in selection of the football playoff rather than computers, which were programmed to ignore margin of victory, you have to believe that beating a directional or vocational school 66-3 looks better 10 weeks from now than a 41-28, right?
Penn State minus-10 over Northwestern: James Franklin is legit. We all know this doubly well now. Plus, the Lions are at home and have an NFL quarterback who makes NFL-type throws. Yes please.
La Monroe minus-13 over Troy: We know next to nothing about La. Monroe. Heck, we're not even sure where it is. Kidding. Quick Rushmore of Monroes: Marilyn Monroe, Monroe Doctrine, Rodney Monroe and Monroe from Too Close For Comfort. That said, this is not picking La.-Monroe as much as it's picking against Troy. Rushmore of Troys: Troy McClure from the Simpsons, Troy Aikman, Troy Polamula, Troy to the World for the Lord has come.
Listen in the 5 p.m. hour for one more pick and there could be a bonus pick in tomorrow's TFP. We'll list all the picks in Friday's 5-at-10.
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Tony Stewart
Tony Stewart was not charged with any crimes in the August on-track tragedy that cost Kevin Ward Jr. his life.
From statements from the grand jury, it sounds like the marijuana in Ward's system was the deciding factor, and we can understand that. That fact would make it exceedingly tough to convince a jury that Stewart was at fault.
Still, this does not answer the ethical question about whether acts in sports - wrecking someone, a brawl, an intentional bean ball, et al. - can be punishable by courts.
There have been some minor league hockey incidents that have been pursued but nothing on a grand scale.
The news of Ward's blood tests put this to bed, but we still believe that, above all else, if dude stays in his car, dude stays alive.
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This and that (Godfather II edition)
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw delivers to the Milwaukee Brewers during their game on Aug. 10, 2014, in Milwaukee.- War Kershaw. Clayton Kershaw has really blossomed since those pointers from Lookouts GM Rich Mozingo, huh? Dude pitched another gem last night as the Dodgers clinched the NL West. If he's not the NL MVP then there needs to be apologies, Senator. My client was promised an apology.
- "There are many things my father taught me here in this room. He taught me: keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." OK, Roger Goodell originally suspends Ray Rice for two games for hitting his fiancee. Bill Simmons goes on a rant calling Goodell a liar and challenges his bosses at ESPN, and Simmons is suspended for three games. Somewhere Goodell is sitting in a big chair (in an office with many leather-bound books that smells of rich mahogany) and is thinking, "I don't feel I have to wipe everybody out, Tom. Just my enemies."
- Speaking of Goodell and all the controversy that has consumed the league... yeah, it's not even phasing the pop culture machine that is the NFL. The NFL was the top-rated show in 28 of the top 30 markets. "Hyman Roth always makes money for his partners. One by one, our old friends are gone. Death, natural or not, prison, deported. Hyman Roth is the only one left, because he always made money for his partners." In case you were wondering, the two markets that did not have NFL shows at the top were New York (60 minutes) and Jacksonville (Alabama-Florida game).
- "I know it was you Fredi. You broke my heart." The Braves actually won a game - somewhere we thought the rules were that the Braves only can win five games in September, so they have used their total - and continue to limp to the finish.
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Today's question
Happy 49th birthday to Scottie Pippen. (Some days are simply stacked with intriguing birthdays, and today is one of them. Among those celebrating today are Will Smith [46], Luke Skywalker [63], William Faulkner [would be 117], Potsie [65], T.I. [34 and one of the best pure rappers of all-time] and the former married couple of Catherine Zeta Jones [45] and Michael Douglas [70, yes 70]. Nice list, no?)
We could go all, Rushmore of best wing men, and we're OK with that if that's where you want to be.
Then we also noticed that today is the 40th anniversary of the first Tommy John surgery by Dr. Frank Jobe. If you are wondering who it was performed on, well, who's buried in Grant's tomb?
Tommy John won 288 games and pitched until he was 46 but dude will forever be known for the surgery that replaced his elbow tendon with one from his knee.
What's our Rushmore of best sports stars who became known names for non-sports things? Go.
(And remember the mailbag.)