Happy Friday everyone. Let's handle the basics first.
You know the rules. Here's Paschall on UT coach Jeremy Pruitt's task this weekend.
Let's get to the Rushmores of the week.
Rushmore of female movie lead characters in the last 30 years: Clarice Starling (Silence of the Lambs), Sarah Connor (Terminator 2), Rey Skywalker (Force Awakens), Marge Gunderson (Fargo).
Rushmore of acting brothers: Jeff and Beau Bridges, Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen, Ben and Casey Affleck, Owen and Luke Wilson. (Honorable mention here to Joaquin and River Phoenix.)
Rushmore of Martin Scorsese's films: Goodfellas, The Departed, Gangs of New York, Taxi Driver. (And that's leaving off a Rushmore that 99 percent of other directors would love to have with Wolf of Wall Street, Casino, Raging Bull and Cape Fear.)
Rushmore of underrated chocolate bars: Nestle Crunch, Clark, Heath, Twix. (Mounds is easily the worst chocolate bar, and as for the question earlier this week about whether a Reese's Cup is a chocolate bar, I have to say no. Not unlike my stance on the hot dog not being a sandwich, it checks several boxes, but common sense tells us otherwise.)
NFL picks
New Orleans minus-4 over Atlanta. I could play quarterback for the Saints against this Falcons pass defense. Are Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara going to be there? That's enough.
Patriots minus-2 over Houston. Bill Belichick vs. Romeo Crennel? Yes please. Did they leave a number off this point spread?
Miami minus-3 over Denver. Shhhhhh, don't look but the Dolphins are riding a five-game winning streak - and have covered in all five - and the health of Drew Lock is far from certain, which leaves the Broncos choosing between a Rypien and a Driskel. (Do you even need to ask whether the buy the half?)
Dallas-Minnesota over 48 and Kansas City-Las Vegas over 57.
Last week: 3-2 against the spread.
This season: 22-21 against the spread.
Intimidator Pool details: Seattle - Shawn W; Chargers - Todd C, Jason G; Vikings - Brent R, Fat Vader; Dolphins - Ted P.
From Steve
I wanna thank u Jay u made my day as I was driving home listening to PR. I was worn out, tired, then I heard you say " Tenn would beat Auburn on Sat " that made me laugh so much I had to pull over. How? Need some adult beverages on the game you in?
Steve -
Absolutely. (Back story: This was a question on Twitter. Steve and I have some CoColas on this game straight up but with odds. If Auburn wins, I owe Steve six of his preferred pilsner, which is Mic Ultra in bottles, and when UT wins, he owes me 12 Bud Lights in any container conceivable.)
Here's my reasoning.
One, UT coach Jeremy Pruitt loathes Auburn. More than any school, if I had to guess. Granted, as the UT coach, Auburn should be somewhere in the middle of your SEC hit list, but that's what happens when a lifelong Alabama goes to Knoxville.
Two, Pruitt - not unlike Kirby - trained under Saban, and learned the dark ways of the force when it comes defense in the modern age. Yes, Malzahn has a better record against Saban than anyone alive, but look at AU's four wins over the Dark Lord when Malzahn's been on staff.
> There was the Cam-back when Gus was OC and all AU needed that day was an Alabama fumble to roll 20 yards teetering on the sideline before leaving the end zone, and an All-American safety to hurt his shoulder, not tell anyone and try to play through it only to allow a critical 70-plus-yard TD early in the third quarter;
> There was the Kick Six Game. Enough said;
> There was last year, in the Pick Six Game, in which Auburn returned two interceptions for scores.
Yes the 2017 AU win was far from flukey.
Now look at what Gus has done against the Sabanites. Kirby has owned Gus. Pruitt's unbeaten against Gus.
The lone factor in Auburn's corner is this game's at home, and even without crowds, Bo Nix is a different due in the 334 than everywhere else.
Still, I think it's truly getting desperation time for Pruitt and especially his offensive staff. I expect them to ride or die with Harrison Bailey. I expect Jim Chaney to open his refrigerator of trick players, and we all know Chaney has a full fridge.
And Herny To'o To'o to'o t'o plug the middle against a very predictable Auburn running game, no matter how good Tank Bigsby is going to be.
And know this UT fans, this is not as much a pick for the Vols as it is against an Auburn team that has gone totally erratic.
From Allan
How do you still have a job?
Allan -
Just lucky I guess. But thanks for reading.
From Chas
What was the most surprising or revolting thing you found in your garage?
Chas-
Not sure I could say anything super surprising. Our pin-pong table is in the garage, and I was a little surprised at how many ping-pong balls were scattered about.
That said, we had a critter find a bag of grass seed not that long ago, and we shoo-ed the critter before it became a big deal.
That said, where the grass seed was became a squirrel port-a-potty, and man, it's amazing something that small can poop that much.
From Jules
Does it get dusty for anyone else every time they show the "In your life" call? Just me? I'm going with full galleries in 2021 even if it's only me willing it to be so. I do wish DJ had the full gallery to walk up 18 fairway but evidently his brother was already teary and that would have added to it.
What an event. And now we don't have to wait a whole year.
Jules -
First, let me know when you get your gift card, and again, congrats on the excellent Masters contest entry.
Spent a fair amount of time thinking about this, and which sports calls make it dusty every single time. (Side note: I'm such a sucker for those moments that even Mike Bream's "Bang Bang." on that great Luka game-winner during the playoffs gets me.)
Which almost always leads me to two places. Yes, Uncle Verne's "In your life" is all-time good. (Side question: Looking back on Verne's career, does anyone have a sports moment top-five on the call like Vern's calls of Jackie Smith's Super Bowl drop "Bless his heart, he has to be the sickest man in America," the famous "Yes Sir!" on Jack's putt on 17 in '86, the emphatic "YES!!!" on Laettner's shot vs. UK (Sorry Chas), the "In your life!" call on Tiger's chip, and his "An answered prayer" on the Kick Six? Wow, what a career of moments.)
And yes, Rod Bramblett's "Auburn's gonna win the football game" gets me more than Verne's but that's me
We can all agree the all-time "I'm not crying you're crying" sports call is Al Michael's "Do you believe in miracles?. YES!" right?
Another thought was Vin Scully could read my grocery list aloud and it would give me chills.
And the connection to both of those is the sports movie "it's dusty in here" moments, because there are about 12 billion of them in "Miracle" and while it's no where close to an all-timer, the scene when Billy Chappel is warming up for the final inning in "For Love of the Game" and Scully hits us with "You know Steve, you get the feeling that Chappel isn't pitching against left-handers, he isn't pitching against pinch-hitters, he isn't pitching against the Yankees.
"He's pitching against time. He's pitching against the future, against age, and even when you think about his career, against ending."
It's so perfect, because in so many ways you'd expect that kind of call from Scully live.
Underrated dusty moments in sports movies Go.
Enjoy the weekend friends.
Jay Greeson