Now that NASCAR is over

.... I guess I have to watch football on Sundays. It's not how I want to spend my Sunday afternoons but I have no choice until the Cup boys start running again in February. Don't get me wrong - I love the sport of football more than any other. But the league is just such complete garbage this year that it's hard to get excited about it. The coaching leaguewide is just abysmal. The level of QB play is so bad that Brady Quinn can come off the bench and actually look decent relative to the rest of the league in his first two starts. Half of the officials seem to be making up the rules as they go.

I'm mostly just disappointed that the Redskins are going through yet another November swoon, losing to mediocre teams like the Steelers and Cowboys at home and giving away any chance they had at a decent seed in the playoffs. They'll be lucky to even make it all now with great teams like Ed's Eagles and Jeff's Falcons nipping at their heels in the wild card race. Next year I'm going to try to be like Bennett and pretend I don't care any more and see if that helps ease the pain when the Skins piss away home games against crap teams. (I already know that it won't.)

I enjoyed this article by Bill Simmons about the disappearance of home field advantage in the NFL. The Redskins have no real home field advantage at FedEx Field because so many people just go to the games so they can tell their friends and co-workers "Yeah, I'm going to the Redskins game this weekend." They don't care if the team wins or loses and they certainly don't have the sense to help create a home field advantage. In fact, the Redskins even have signs on the JumboTron for these people that say "Quiet. Offense at Work." when the Skins have the ball or "Make Noise!!!" when the other team has it. It's a fuckin' embarrassment. The league has squeezed out the majority of people who get drunk and stand and cheer throughout the game to make room for more corporate people like Ed who just want to sit in their luxury suite and sip on wine. There just aren't enough people like my Dad (Passionate fans who also have the $$$ to pay the outrageous ticket costs) to fill a 90,000+ seat stadium. You can't even stand up at a Redskins game without having to look behind you to make sure you aren't blocking the view of some jackass who wants to sit there and flip through the program and play with his cell phone for 4 hours.

Everyone is so concerned about having home field advantage throughout the playoffs but the last 3 Super Bowl champions all played on wild card weekend. The '05 Steelers and '07 Giants both won 3 consecutive road playoff games to get to the Super Bowl and the '06 Colts had to win at Baltimore to get to the AFC Championship game. Home field advantage in the NFL is gone and I blame two groups of people: Greedy owners like Dan Snyder who want to put in luxury suites and club level seats everywhere, charge people ridiculously high prices, and squeeze out us Joe 12-packs, and elitists like Ed who buy up these fabulous seats the rest of us can't afford and then sit on their hands throughout the game.

For shame.

* Speaking of Ed, he got all mad at me on Sunday for not "Giving him" any of my Carl Edwards at 4-1 in the Cup race. Can you believe this guy? First of all, he told me on Saturday night that Edwards looked like garbage in practice and that he wouldn't have bet on him at 5-1. He'd also told me earlier in the week that LVSC sent Cousin Carl at 4 so naturally I assumed that Ed's boy had already grabbed some for their group. Also keep in mind that with the limits these books are taking on NASCAR these days (Whose fault is that?) the most I could have given Ed's crew would have been like $30 each. I don't like Matt tattling on me to Ed like a little kid. I don't like Ed threatening me for not giving his group a cut of my ticket. And I especially don't like the idea that I am expected to pay tribute to Ed by kicking money upstairs when I win a bet like he is some kind of Mob boss.

* Believe me Ed: You wouldn't want a share of everything I bet anyways, bro. Most of my stuff is complete slop. Look at my teasers with the Eagles and Jaguars last weekend. You guys want a piece of that? If there's anyone you should be trying to get a cut from it's The Hoff. The guy is amazing. He's even winning NBA side bets on full games. I honestly didn't think that was possible. The other day, Matt hilariously compared Hoffy to Matt Damon's character in The Departed saying that he thinks Billy Walters has spent years grooming Hoffman with the intention to one day have him infiltrate the sports book industry and dominate it from the inside. I thought that was really funny but I think the movie character Scott most reminds me of is the guy played by Don Cheadle in Boogie Nights. Remember the scene when he goes into the donut shop and it ends up being robbed and everyone inside is killed but him? He then finds himself standing alone in the middle of the shop with the cash register wide open and money hanging out of it. Now that's The Hoff.

* Speaking of movies, I'm surprised by how many of you haven't seen Boiler Room. That is a seriously funny movie and one of my favorite movies to quote, alongside Anchorman, Two For The Money, Top Gun, Super Troopers, and The 40 Year Old Virgin. Those of you who haven't seen Boiler Room should really get on that.

* Since this is (allegedly) a blog about sports gambling, I guess I am obligated to mention the play at the end of the Chargers-Steelers game. It definitely looked like a touchdown to me. I know that the kids would have been a lot happier with a Steelers cover. I also know that there was a certain group with the razor sharp number of Chargers +3 who were very pleased to see that touchdown not count. My official stance? I'd be completely indifferent but a few kids I book for laid the points with the Steelers so I'm glad the refs blew the call. What a league.

* I know I haven't talked about Jorgen in this space in a while. It's just difficult for me because every time I type his name, I start to choke up. The kid did make me a few bucks two weeks ago with his release on Iowa State to cover at Colorado. One could make the argument that Jorgie is a sharp sharp when it comes to Iowa State football. Jorgen says that he misses the people he used to work with at the Hilton very much but it seems to me that he's getting pretty comfortable at the Venetian. The last time I was there, Jorgen and the other writers were giving each other nicknames and joking around while they waited to punch their 4th ticket of the hour. And last night when I was with The Hoff and Jorgen's name came up, Scotty whipped out his IPhone and showed Franco and I pictures of Jorgen and Amanda. I know that Scott was just trying to show off his IPhone but it was still kind of weird.

Hoffman's exact reaction to the above paragraph: "I get FaceBook on my phone, dick."

(Okay, Scott that's all I have on you today. Can you scroll back up to the top and read the parts that didn't have your name in them, too? Thanks, bro.)

* Before I end this thing, I want to talk about the fantasy football team I co-manage with Austin. Let's think back to some of the greatest football teams of the last 25 years. The 1985 Bears come to mind. Last year's Patriots were pretty good. And, of course, this year's Eagles team with their flashy 5-4-1 record coming off last year's last place finish in the division is a true juggernaut. But I think the team Austin and I have compiled is better than any of them. Our WRs are Terrell Owens, Brandon Marshall, and Steve Smith. You'd be lucky to have a WR group like that in an 8 team league. Brandon Jacobs is running wild. Maurice Jones-Drew may set a record for most 2 TD/30 yards rushing games in NFL history. DeAngelo Williams is capable of busting a long run on any play. (Just imagine what we would be doing to this league if we had a quarterback.)

There are certain people at work (I'm not going to name names but I think we all know who they are) who are openly rooting against us winning this league. I would like to formally invite these people to suck my balls. Austin and I (Or me and Austin if that's easier for you to comprehend, Ed) will be winning the league. And we will be splitting the generous cash prize at the end of it. And I will be mentioning our triumph every day for the rest of my life. Not because I am really that proud of it. Just because I really enjoy busting CB's balls, especially when it's over something he is pretending to not care about.

Okay, I guess I am naming names after all.


Trivia Question for Friday: Donovan McNabb apparently knows nothing about the NFL's overtime rules. Let's see if you guys do. If there was an NFL playoff game that was still tied at the end of a second overtime, what would happen? In other words, is there a halftime? Do they kickoff again to start the third overtime? Or is the ball still where it was at the end of the second OT? If you can answer this one, I will be seriously impressed.

Saturday's Answer: Scott Caan's character "Richie" had that quote. I may have to go back to the Boiler Room well again for future trivia questions.


Need Michigan State and Oklahoma to win tomorrow. And I guess I'll sit through the Redskins game on Sunday. They'll win because every dummy who thinks he is sharp is grabbing that 3.5.

I'm going to see Jerry Seinfeld tonight at Caesars Palace.

You guys need to find something better to do than read my blog. Be more like Jeff. He has no time for this thing.... Or does he? Interesting poll question this week.



Enjoy the game.