Here we go again -- time for me to make some money, and for readers to help me while proving how smart they are. Once again I am participating in a pro football Underdog Pool, the object of which is to pick one NFL team every week that's going to win its game outright despite the oddsmakers' predictions that it's going to lose.
Here's is this week's lineup. The underdogs are in caps. To the left are the number of points that they are favored to lose their respective games by. But in order to win, I have to pick a team that's going to win outright -- not just beat the spread. On the other hand, the points are not irrelevant, in that if my pick wins, I get the number of points shown for that game. The player with the most points accumulated by the end of the playoffs wins the pool.
13.5 DETROIT at New Orleans
11 KANSAS CITY at Baltimore
10.5 BUFFALO at New England
9.5 OAKLAND vs. San Diego
7.5 ST. LOUIS at Seattle
7 JACKSONVILLE at Indianapolis
6.5 SAN FRANCISCO at Arizona
6.5 WASHINGTON at NY Giants
6 TAMPA BAY vs. Dallas
6 TENNESSEE at Pittsburgh (Thursday)
5 NY JETS at Houston
4.5 CLEVELAND vs. Minnesota
4 CHICAGO at Green Bay
4 MIAMI at Atlanta
4 DENVER at Cincinnati
2 CAROLINA vs. Philadelphia
Especially in the first couple of weeks of the season, anything can happen. That being the case, the Lions actually don't look that bad. San Diego tends to get the chokies, and so could the Raiders pull it off? The Browns are going to win some games this year -- will they prevail at home in Week 1? All good fodder for some conversation over the next few days. But if you think the Titans will beat the Steelers, you've only got a day or two to speak up, as they play on Thursday.
Last year I took third place in the pool, which means I won some dough. Readers who helped me get there won... well, my undying gratitude. This year, let's hope we take it all, in which case I'll really love you.
Not a lot of good choices here, but I'll venture a guess of Dallas losing on the road to Tampa Bay. Traveling east is frequently hard on teams, and it'll be a home game for Tampa. Dallas is a suspect team, and Tampa's problems tend to come on late-season, not early season. I'm giving it a less than 50-50 chance, but I REALLY don't like any of the other choices this week. Wouldn't be surprised if there are no upsets this week.
"This year, let's hope we take it all, in which case I'll really love you."
Jack, there's something a little bit creepy about the way you italicized "really" in that sentence. Kind of the same way that Bryan Adams' song "Have You Ever -Really- Loved a Woman" gives me the heebie-jeebies. Or makes me feel confused and inadequate.
Take the Jets. Besides, after last year's abuse of the Terrible Towel* by some of the Titans**, the Steelers are going to rip 'em up at home. No mercy.
The word "love" has many connotations, some of which accommodate, without creepiness, the concept of degrees. The ancient Greeks had far more words for "love." If you and I were in the Athenian agorá in Socrates's time, I could say this in a better way.
If you are going for the big points up front, I like the RAMS to upset Seattle (new-coach-itis). Or SAN FRAN over Arizona (I know, I know...)
Safer bet: I think your gut is right on CLEVELAND (Who wants to lose to Brett Favre?)
I would wait on picking Chicago until you get a chance to see how their injured secondary performs against a team with top receivers (like the Packers).
I agree with the Jets. Ryan has got their defense fired up and ready to play, and the offense is competent. Houston is a fashionable pick to make the playoffs, but I think they lose this game.
Gascón, Colosal Red 2013
Cardwell Hill, Pinot Gris 2015
L'Ecole No. 41, Merlot 2013
Della Terra, Anonymus
Willamette Valley, Dijon Clone Chardonnay 2013
Wraith, Cabernet, Eidolon Estate 2012
Januik, Red 2015
Tomassi, Valpolicella, Rafaél, 2014
Sharecropper's Pinot Noir 2013
Helix, Pomatia Red Blend 2013
La Espera, Cabernet 2011
Campo Viejo, Rioja Reserva 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2013
Locations, Spanish Red Wine
Locations, Argentinian Red Wine
La Antigua Clásico, Rioja 2011
Shatter, Grenache, Maury 2012
Argyle, Vintage Brut 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #16
Abacela, Fiesta Tempranillo 2014
Benton Hill, Pinot Gris 2015
Primarius, Pinot Gris 2015
Januik, Merlot 2013
Napa Cellars, Cabernet 2013
J. Bookwalter, Protagonist 2012
LAN, Rioja Edicion Limitada 2011
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2009
Denada Cellars, Cabernet, Maipo Valley 2014
Marchigüe, Cabernet, Colchagua Valley 2013
Oberon, Cabernet 2014
Hedges, Red Mountain 2012
Balboa, Rose of Grenache 2015
Ontañón, Rioja Reserva 2015
Three Horse Ranch, Pinot Gris 2014
Archery Summit, Vireton Pinot Gris 2014
Nelms Road, Merlot 2013
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris 2014
Conn Creek, Cabernet, Napa 2012
Conn Creek, Cabernet, Napa 2013
Villa Maria, Sauvignon Blanc 2015
G3, Cabernet 2013
Chateau Smith, Cabernet, Washington State 2014
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #16
Willamette Valley, Rose of Pinot Noir, Whole Clusters 2015
Albero, Bobal Rose 2015
Ca' del Baio Barbaresco Valgrande 2012
Goodfellow, Reserve Pinot Gris, Clover 2014
Lugana, San Benedetto 2014
Wente, Cabernet, Charles Wetmore 2011
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King Estate, Pinot Gris 2015
Adelsheim, Pinot Gris 2015
Trader Joe's, Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley 2015
La Vite Lucente, Toscana Red 2013
St. Francis, Cabernet, Sonoma 2013
Kendall-Jackson, Pinot Noir, California 2013
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Napa Valley 2013
Erath, Pinot Noir, Estate Selection 2012
Abbot's Table, Columbia Valley 2014
Intrinsic, Cabernet 2014
Oyster Bay, Pinot Noir 2010
Occhipinti, SP68 Bianco 2014
Layer Cake, Shiraz 2013
Desert Wind, Ruah 2011
WillaKenzie, Pinot Gris 2014
Abacela, Fiesta Tempranillo 2013
Des Amis, Rose 2014
Dunham, Trautina 2012
RoxyAnn, Claret 2012
Del Ri, Claret 2012
Stoppa, Emilia, Red 2004
Primarius, Pinot Noir 2013
Domaines Bunan, Bandol Rose 2015
Albero, Bobal Rose 2015
Deer Creek, Pinot Gris 2015
Beaulieu, Rutherford Cabernet 2013
Archery Summit, Vireton Pinot Gris 2014
King Estate, Pinot Gris, Backbone 2014
Oberon, Napa Cabernet 2013
Apaltagua, Envero Carmenere Gran Reserva 2013
Chateau des Arnauds, Cuvee des Capucins 2012
Nine Hats, Red 2013
Benziger, Cabernet, Sonoma 2012
Roxy Ann, Claret 2012
Januik, Merlot 2012
Conundrum, White 2013
St. Francis, Sonoma Cabernet 2012
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2012
Decoy, Cabernet, Sonoma 2013
Marqués de Murrieta, Reserva Rioja 2010
Kendall-Jackson, Grand Reserve Cabernet 2009
Seven Hills, Merlot 2013
Los Vascos, Grande Reserve Cabernet 2011
Abbot's Table, Columbia Valley 2014
Forlorn Hope, St. Laurent, Ost-Intrigen 2013
Upper Five, Tempranillo 2010 and 2012
The Four Graces, Pinot Gris 2015
Topsail, Syrah 2013
Jim Barry, The Lodge Hill Shiraz 2013
Robert Mondavi, Cabernet, Napa Valley 2012
Adelsheim, Pinot Gris 2014
Boomtown, Cabernet 2013
Boulay, Sauvignon Blanc 2014
Domaine de Durban Muscat 2011
Patricia Green, Estate Pinot Noir 2012
Crios, Cabernet, Mendoza 2011
WillaKenzie, Pinot Gris 2014
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Philip Roth - The Plot Against America
Norm Macdonald - Based on a True Story
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Ryan Holiday - The Obstacle is the Way
Ruth Sepetys - Between Shades of Gray
Richard Adams - Watership Down
Claire Vaye Watkins - Gold Fame Citrus
Markus Zusak - I am the Messenger
Anthony Doerr - All the Light We Cannot See
James Joyce - Dubliners
Cheryl Strayed - Torch
William Golding - Lord of the Flies
Saul Bellow - Mister Sammler's Planet
Phil Stanford - White House Call Girl
John Kaplan & Jon R. Waltz - The Trial of Jack Ruby
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David Halberstam - Summer of '49
Norman Mailer - The Naked and the Dead
Maria Dermoȗt - The Ten Thousand Things
William Faulkner - As I Lay Dying
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Christopher Buckley - Thank You for Smoking
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Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything
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Sara Varon - Bake Sale
Stephen King - 11/22/63
Paul Goldstein - Errors and Omissions
Mark Twain - A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Steve Martin - Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
Beverly Cleary - A Girl from Yamhill, a Memoir
Kent Haruf - Plainsong
Hope Larson - A Wrinkle in Time, the Graphic Novel
Rudyard Kipling - Kim
Peter Ames Carlin - Bruce
Fran Cannon Slayton - When the Whistle Blows
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
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Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
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Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
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Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 37
At this date last year: 104
Total run in 2016: 155
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In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
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In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Comments (18)
Tennessee
Posted by mp97303 | September 8, 2009 4:04 PM
Explanations of one's picks are encouraged.
Posted by Jack Bog | September 8, 2009 4:10 PM
Not a lot of good choices here, but I'll venture a guess of Dallas losing on the road to Tampa Bay. Traveling east is frequently hard on teams, and it'll be a home game for Tampa. Dallas is a suspect team, and Tampa's problems tend to come on late-season, not early season. I'm giving it a less than 50-50 chance, but I REALLY don't like any of the other choices this week. Wouldn't be surprised if there are no upsets this week.
Posted by Mark | September 8, 2009 5:51 PM
Jets
If Jets and Sanchez can beat Giants, then the Houston Texans are a cakewalk. I don't even understand why the Jets are underdogs.
Chicago
Jay Cutler has a lot more to prove and the Bears would love to make a first game statement to that division.
Posted by LucsAdvo | September 8, 2009 7:55 PM
And I got a hunch the Titans are going to beat the Steelers.
Posted by Tenskwatawa | September 8, 2009 8:21 PM
One more thing... about the Jets...
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/09/08/Texans.Schaub.ap/index.html
Who will be the QB for the Texans anyway?
Posted by LucsAdvo | September 8, 2009 8:22 PM
"This year, let's hope we take it all, in which case I'll really love you."
Jack, there's something a little bit creepy about the way you italicized "really" in that sentence. Kind of the same way that Bryan Adams' song "Have You Ever -Really- Loved a Woman" gives me the heebie-jeebies. Or makes me feel confused and inadequate.
Posted by teacherrefpoet | September 8, 2009 8:36 PM
Not to mention Neil Young's "When You Dance I Can Really Love"...
Posted by Jack Bog | September 8, 2009 8:42 PM
Does Neil Young italicize "really" in his title? Because Bryan Adams did. Ewww. Creepy.
Posted by teacherrefpoet | September 8, 2009 9:49 PM
Take the Jets. Besides, after last year's abuse of the Terrible Towel* by some of the Titans**, the Steelers are going to rip 'em up at home. No mercy.
* Terrible Towel Creator Donates All to Disabled
Former Steelers' Announcer Myron Cope Turns Symbol of Pride Into Hope for Disabled
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/PersonOfWeek/story?id=6821185&page=1
**Lendale vows to stomp on a towel
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/09/06/lendale-vows-to-stomp-on-a-towel/
Posted by Mojo | September 9, 2009 12:05 AM
Ewww. Creepy.
The word "love" has many connotations, some of which accommodate, without creepiness, the concept of degrees. The ancient Greeks had far more words for "love." If you and I were in the Athenian agorá in Socrates's time, I could say this in a better way.
Posted by Jack Bog | September 9, 2009 12:59 AM
If you are going for the big points up front, I like the RAMS to upset Seattle (new-coach-itis). Or SAN FRAN over Arizona (I know, I know...)
Safer bet: I think your gut is right on CLEVELAND (Who wants to lose to Brett Favre?)
Posted by Mark Mason | September 9, 2009 9:25 AM
I would wait on picking Chicago until you get a chance to see how their injured secondary performs against a team with top receivers (like the Packers).
I would go with the Broncos or the Jets.
Posted by Kevin | September 9, 2009 9:31 AM
SF will make the spread.
Posted by ecohuman | September 9, 2009 9:46 AM
I agree with the Jets. Ryan has got their defense fired up and ready to play, and the offense is competent. Houston is a fashionable pick to make the playoffs, but I think they lose this game.
Posted by Dave J. | September 9, 2009 9:49 AM
It would be interesting to know what the total points are that put you in the money and win the thing outright.
That said, if 6 points is worth it, I'd be picking Tampa Bay for sure.
Posted by george anonymuncule seldes | September 9, 2009 10:04 AM
Sorry for no explanation, I was getting sick and wanted to get my pick in just in case I ended up with the piggy flu and died.
Posted by mp97303 | September 9, 2009 5:44 PM
Jets 24 Texans 7..... Not a surprise. Just what I would have expected. Hope you took this one, Jack.
We will see about the later game.
Posted by LucsAdvo | September 13, 2009 4:50 PM