Call Me the Oscar De La Hoya

.... of blogging, as lately I have simply not shown up. Like the Golden Boy, I am clearly past my prime but unlike Oscar, I won't be receiving a 10 figure payout for completely mailing it in. Instead, all I get is dumb questions from people asking me when I'm going to blog again. The answer: Whenever I f'ing feel like it.

The Cowboys-Steelers game is starting and I figured I could try one of two things during the game. My first thought was to take a shot every time Joe Buck said something borderline non-hetero about Tony Romo after any mediocre-to-stupid play Romo makes. But I figured that if I tried that I'd most likely be dead by halftime and I have to go to work later, so I've opted to blog during the game instead.

Having said that, I do think that could make for a fun drinking game for you and your buddies in the future. Here are the rules: Watch a Cowboys game being called by Joe Buck and Troy Aikman (So any Cowboys game) and take a shot every time Buck goes off ridiculously overpraising Romo for no apparent reason. If you are still alive at halftime, you win, and you are a world class drinker. For the record, I recommend doing this during a game in which the Cowboys are not a heavy favorite because Romo tends to pad his stats in games like that and the verbal fellashing from Buck could leave you in an early grave by the end of the first quarter.

Enjoy.


* When a noted NFL SuperFan/amateur meteorologist like Ed Salmons comes to you with a lock 'Under' bet like he did in today's Eagles/Giants game, you would be wise to listen to him. Eli Manning was terrible today. If I was a Giants fan I'd be pretty concerned. Quarterbacks that look like complete garbage in December home games can't just flip the switch in January and wind up in the Super Bowl. No, I'm pretty sure that would never happen.... I hit both the 1H under and the game under thanks to Ed. Nice call, bro. I wouldn't want to be up against that guy in any kind of NFL capping contest.

* Speaking of that, I have not given up on plans to hold such an event. I know it probably seems like I'm dragging my feet on this thing, but it's hard to come up with a fair format when you have both an NFL heavyweight like Ed and a sports gambling wunderkind like Bennett involved. I may just let them go at it head-to-head for 3 weeks, while the rest of us watch from a distance in awe of their sharpness.

* Incredibly and perhaps excruciatingly, I'm not done with the Ed stuff yet. He made me call people who were at the South Florida-West Virginia game last night in Morgantown to get a full weather report moments before the game kicked off. I tried to tell him that by 8 o'clock local time on the day of the last game of the season, all my friends would be in roughly the same state The H is in on a typical Monday afternoon. The first kid I called didn't answer so I left him a voice mail and called someone else who gave me a full breakdown of the weather from his seat, most which proved to be completely wrong. At some point during the 2nd quarter, the first kid called me back to give me a full weather report. I interrupted him to say that by this point I was already watching the game on TV and I knew everything he was saying already. He then paused for a second and proceeded to catalog everything he had to drink that day.

Yes, that first kid was in fact Cliff. I love that guy.

* My NFL sleeper pick on the Texans has gone up in flames this season but it wasn't as bad of a pick as their record would indicate. Houston started 0-4 after a heartbreaking overtime loss in Jacksonville and a home collapse of epic proportions against the Colts. Since then, they are a very respectable 6-3, despite their starting quarterback Matt Schaub missing several games with an injury. Reverse those two early season losses and Houston is 8-5 and right in the thick of the AFC Playoff race. They will be a team to watch in 2009.

* Alabama gave Florida everything they could handle yesterday but in the end the Gators were just too much for the Tide. Tim Tebow was so good in that game that I hear Gary Danielson had to change his shorts at halftime. Tebow is a great player and seems to be an incredibly good person off the field, so how come everyone I know roots against the guy? Bennett openly hates him (Shocker.) My brother had a big bet on the Gators yesterday and I could hear the pain in his voice when Tebow threw a touchdown pass on the Gators opening drive because he dislikes #15 so much. Even "The Big Guy," a UF graduate, doesn't seem to like his team's Heisman Trophy winning quarterback.

The blog is going to go ahead and back Tebow. Yes, he is ridiculously overrated at times (One announcer even had the gall to talk about how Tebow had "Led" the Gators to the national championship two years ago when he took about 7-10 snaps a game) but he is a very good player and a perfect fit for Scumbag Meyer's offense. I also admire him for mocking the Big 12 and its many respectable "Defenses." I already bet Florida -1 vs Oklahoma for the BCS Championship game and I may end up betting more. I'll take my chances with Meyer and Tebow against "Big Game" Bob Stoops and a team that hasn't played a good defense all season.

* Most of the experts are predicting a Fiesta Bowl match up of Ohio State vs. Texas. What complete garbage. Ohio State played two good teams all season and lost both games, including being beat down by USC. I also don't like the fact that we saw Ohio vs. Texas 2006 and again in 2007. Can't we try to get some fresh match ups? I'd like to see Alabama vs. Texas. Instead, it sounds like the Tide is headed to the Sugar Bowl where they will most likely slaughter a Utah team that has no business being in the BCS, either. The Utes were very lucky to escape with a home win over Oregon State as a double digit favorite and only beat TCU (Also a home game) because of an epic choke job by the Horned Frogs kicker in the 4th quarter. Utah is the blog's pick as the biggest fraud in college football this season and I will definitely be going against them in whatever BCS bowl they are in.

* While I'm on the topic of college football and the BCS, I gotta do a rant about the ACC/Big East and whether or not they deserve automatic BCS bowl bids. Since Miami (FL), Virginia Tech, and Boston College ditched the Big East for the greener pastures of ACC football, both conferences have sent 3 teams to BCS bowl games. The Big East teams are 3-0 in those games (West Virginia over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, Louisville over Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl, and West Virginia over Oklahoma in last year's Fiesta Bowl) while the ACC teams are 0-3 (Besides Wake's loss, they also had Virginia Tech lose to Kansas is last year's Orange Bowl and Florida State lose to Penn State in the Orange Bowl three years ago.) So why is the Big East constantly being questioned as to whether they deserve an automatic BCS bid? Since realignment, the conference is undefeated in BCS bowl games and they will have a great chance of making it 4-0 in this year's Orange Bowl with Cincinnati playing Virginia Tech. Until the Big East actually loses one of these games, people need to stop mocking the conference and point the finger at the garbage ACC.


Trivia Question for Sunday: Which franchise drafted West Virginia QB Pat White coming out of high school?


The fantasy team Austin and I share is just wrecking shit. Take that Ed. And Bennett. And anyone else who is rooting against us just to be a hater.

Oscar De La Hoya is a vagine.

Go Steelers.

Big Redskins game tonight. Maybe the power will go out at work and I won't be subjected to it.

And by the way - At the 12 minute mark of the 2nd quarter, the Cowboys have scored 0 points and Romo has been picked off, fumbled the ball away, fumbled another ball but was saved by that ridiculous tuck rule, and thrown a pass 10 feet over Terrell Owens' head on a 4th and 2. All Joe Buck has to say is that maybe Romo's having trouble in his first game since the splint came off his broken finger. Yeah, maybe. Or maybe playing on the road against the Steelers isn't quite the same as home games against the 49ers and Seahawks. Hard to say.



Enjoy the game.