Hey there Mad, no shame in not being able to get a handle on this year's parity filled NFL crop. It only figures that the year I give up booking, it starts to get wierd again! LOL! I have always held the opinion of (and not just "On Any Given Sunday...") the NFL being filled with the BEST football players and coaches, no matter how bad the team is record wise. These guys are all professionals and almost all are equally matched in most categories at their respective positions. Obviously there are greats that use their intangibles to outperform others, but usually the talent level is closer than perceived (even with the Skins and Niners LOL). Good luck on Pitt tonight Mad. They are the eam off the bye so we'll see what happens. Thanks for Jax also Karla though I got a push. No biggy though as my friend who books would have gotten killed if J'ville covered with him.

Hi guys

Yes the Jax game had me squirming. Thankfully the t/o's caught up with Cincy in the last minute. I thought for sure it was going for o/t. But, I won't be bagging the Bengals any more. They are a good team with a very good qb and that Johnson is a super receiver. If you saw the game, did you notice how Cinci created tunnels for their running back. He kept going into the middle of the line and popping up 6 yards downfield? If their defensive line was better they would be a real force.

We are on oposite sides today, MAD as I am on the Chargers. Maybe we should bet with each other and save the vig? LOL

It sure is important to get those .5 points on the 3 mark. It probably only makes a difference a couple of times a year, but it does make a difference.

Hey, Saratoga, do you know whats going on with College football. Watched the Thursday nite game and 2 guys got penalized for demonstrating after scoring. One guy did a somersault and the other guy did hardly anything. From memory he spun the ball into the fence. Seems weird to not allow any sort of enthusiam after a TD. After a t/o they seem to be allowed to celebrate all they want. They are college age guys after all.

Speaking of penalties, it must be nearly impossible to be a defensive player in the NFL. Can't touch a qb, can't touch a receiver. Soon they will be playing touch or flag football.


Very sad news I'm afraid. Karla, the 14 year old German shepherd died of liver cancer last week. She had a good life spent running wild and guarding the sheds and property out here. I am a Canadian born male person who happily resides in outback Australia. And I really wish somebody would show CFL on TV.

Back later with the stats review.

Sorry to hear about Karla. Can't be anything harder than losing your best friend. I have two questions I like to ask people to judge a little about their character. 1) Do you like dogs? 2)Do you like the Beatles? Gotta say yes to both or we're not even close to being in the same ballpark.

Canadian, eh? You missed a great hockey game tonight between the Leafs and Senators (Ott 6-5 in ot). Hockey is my #1 sport and the Habs rule!

Yeah, i should have shopped around, especially after preaching earlier in the season but I was too lazy to grab the 1/2 point advantage in the J'ville game.

Those celebration penalties are stupid anyway, but some guys go to the extreme and it can be unnerving.

Thanks Saratoga

We've got 2 other dogs but not in the same class as the pure bred Karla. The missus is already talking about finding another.

I was born in TO and old enough to remember NHL when there was only 6 teams. Grew up in Ottawa where my dad still lives but never seen the Sens. Of course, the arch rival is the Habs until of course they play anybody else then its "go Habs go". I am French Canadian by the way.

Never bet on hockey as I always lose and the empty net goals are a real bummer for the totals. Is the o/t shoot out working out? Only hockey we get is from ESPN but they don't have anything scheduled for October. Espn never never never show Canadian teams in either Baseball or Hockey unless its the playoffs. (contratual thing with Canadian TV I think). In hockey, if last couple of years are a guide we will get Detroit, Colorado, or Rangers games once or twice a week. They do a good job when playoffs come around though.

Pittsburgh sure look good now the Bus is back.

Bon chance mon ami et je t'aime les "Beatles".

Bon chance aussi! or is it Aussie?!?! That's great that you were around when the original six played. You would remember my Dad's cousin then. He was one of the greats--Bill Durnan goalie for the Habs. I went to the last game at the Forum. It was great!

Hi guys


I went 2-1 with picks last week with Seattle outscoring STL and the Jax barely holding on to beat a good Cinci side and losing the unders bet on Ari/Car by .5 when Carolina scored 2 late td’s. Now 7-8.

Notes. St Louis loss at home was only 10^th in last 50 games. Miami have lost 9 of their last 10 road games. Fox game at 3 am is NY Giants v Dallas on Monday


Stats wrap (winner in bold)

Tampa Bay – NY Jets. Watched this game and still can’t figure out how the Jets won. TB won the stats and had a huge (71-48) advantage in the total plays and had 2 more t/o’s . According to the stats NY is still a very bad offensive team (212 yds all up) and TB is a very good defense team. Vinny must have had god on his side. The Jets defense is fairly solid.

NO – GB The Packers got 5 t/os and played a very good defensive game. NO looks like they are going to be very hard to pick this year as its going to be hard to figure out where their collective heads are at. GB on offense figures were average for them so not to get carried away as they are still a below average bunch of cheeseheads.

Chi – Cle Cleveland got 2 t/os in the last 3 minutes to salvage a very close game statistically. Chicago’s run defense had another good game and haven’t been blown out yet on pass defense. Their offense had a good running day (176 yards) but their passing offense is very bad averaging only 128 yds per game. Clevland are the opposite in they can move the ball through the air but can’t run. Clevlands defense had their worse day against the run but their best day against the pass (90 yds)


Miami – Buf As a Bills fan I am happy with a win but it really was a loss by Miami. The Dolphins were the better team statistically playing up to their averages and their defense played well against a very very bad Buffalo pass offense (avg 100 yds per game). However 5 t/os and 18 penalties handed the game to Buffalo.


Balt – Det Similar stats to the Miami/Buf game with Baltimore winning the stats (387 to 260) but self destructing giving away 21 penalties and 4 to’s. Baltimore finally got a running game going (159 yds). Their defense reversed itself shutting down Detroits passing (90 yds) but allowing Detroit to run for 169 yards which is about twice as much as their average for the first 3 games. Detroit played average on both sides of the ball with a little better running game but their average is not going to get a lot of wins unless they get lots of help like the Ravens provided.

NE – ATL Both teams ran riot on offense with +400 yards each in a close statistically game. Vick didn’t play which may have provided the 3 point difference. Atlanta had their worst defnsive game, their worst rushing game and their best passing game. NE finally rushed for over 100 yds (141) but continued to play badly on defense.

SEA – STL Both teams passed for over 300 yards in a bit of a shoot out. Close game with Seatle getting 2 t/o’s to make the differnce. Seattle has a good running game (avg 135 yds) and has not allowed a t/o in their last 3 games. STL can pass but has no defense.

Ten – Hou Both teams played up to the mediocre averages. Houston again got sacked 7 times bringing their total to 27 for the year. Both teams are headed for mediocrity this year.

Indy- SF - Indy won their 5^th straight but again played below last years numbers on offense. Their defense completely shut down SF’s very bad offense (44 yds passing). Indy gave up their first sack and 3 t/os (only 2 in first 4 games) but the 49’s coughed it up 5 times. Hard to tell exactly where the Colts are but SF are going nowhere. The Monday night game this week against STL might tell us more.

Car – Ari The Panthers got +2 to’s which got them the game as Arizona had most of the ball and put up the better numbers. (Car 56 plays for 330 and Ari 74 for 464). Both teams are having trouble running the ball.

Phi- Dallas The most suprising result of the day as Dallas absolutely shut down the Phil offense and dominated the play. The Cowboys outplayed the Eagles by 456 yds to 129 without any t/os. Philly could only get 6 first downs and 19 yds rushing. Big big came for Dallas against the division leader.

Wash- Denv Another game where the away team dominated the statsbut lost a close one. Denver had another good rushing game but their pass offense was shut down (92 yds) for the 3^rd straight game. Washington put up good enough numbers to win especially on yds passing but the fickled finger of fate was not on their side this week.

Cin-Jax Very close game that could have gone either way. The jax got their running game going (181 yds) and got their t/o at the right time. Cinci proved that thier early form is good form and kept their numbers up against a very good defence.

Pit – SD Despite losing my dough, no complaints as the better team got up in the last minute. Close game statistically. The Steelers played up to their numbers while the Chargers were held to 66 yards rushing. Seeing that they averaged 225 in their last 2 efforts that was a big effort by the Steeler defense. But it was a cliff hanger of a game marred by too many penalties and Steelers proved if you have only a tiny distance to go then use “the bus”.

Hi Everyone

Can't see any team that looks like they will beat the spread this week, so I'll try and improve my 7-8 record with a couple of totals.


Baltimore - Cleveland over 34.5

Rather a low total considering that the Ravens have allowed 24, 25 and 35 points in 3 of their 4 games this year. THe other game was against the NY Jets when the Jets didn't have a qb. If they allow that average they only have to score about 10 themselves. The Browns are a pretty average team and Baltimore should have an easier time of scoring. Really 2 average teams on offense and defense and since the NFL average points is about 40 I am going with the over.

Seattle - Houston under 46

Houston can't score and can't pass. They have had a little success running the ball so I figure that they are going to run and try and keep the Seattle offense off the field. Seattle are about the number 1 offensive team and have set up their great passing game with the run. So I figure they will run a lot also. The Seattle coach (Holgrem) is a very conseravitive guy and doesn't see much value in thrashing the opposition. If Seattle are ahead, which they should be, I figure the Seahawks will eat up the clock by running and rest their somewhat beat-up receiving corp. One team who are very bad offensively against another team who aren't looking to prove anything by winning by heaps should lead to game that will go under the 46.

Chicago vs Minnesota $2.30 win

DET +2 ***

WASH +6 **

MIA +3 **

Under Sea ** (Karla, your analysis has lured me again. Looks like sound advice. Good luck)