Month: January 2009

Weekend Stuff – The BIG Update

You didn’t ask for it, but you are getting it anyway. Without further ado, welcome to your whirlwind tour of stuffs for your reading pleasure.

Final Bowl Record
My final Bowl record (against the spread mind you) was a respectable 19-12, good for 61%. It is never a good thing when the Gators win, but I love it when I am right. Last Wednesday I said

“Gators are the pick. This one will be close, but in the end Gators will pull out a 9-13 point margin of victory.”

’nuff said; time to be moving along …

Pac-10 better than all the rest.
Who would have guessed that the Pac-10 would be perfect? During “Bowl Season” I think USC would have kicked the pants off of any team in the country. As much as I think Texas got screwed, I doubt they would have beat Florida or USC, but we will never know because Big Boy football continues to be f’ed-up without a playoff system.

Conferences of note, Pac-10 (5-0), SEC (6-2), Big 12 (4-3), ACC (4-6), Big Ten (1-6). [Source NBC Sports]

The ACC had more teams (10) than any other conference and they posted a piss poor .400%. What about the Big Ten? Can we all finally agree that this conference is over rated, over hyped, over exposed, and just plain out sucks? Good grief!

Falcons season tickets still not selling?
As I wrote early last year, I was tickled pink when I got a call that my name came up on the Falcons Season Ticket Waiting List. Me about 20K others, but I still considered myself special.

First the Falcons asked everyone to pony up money for their tickets by December 30, and oh by the way, if you pay now, we will not raise your ticket prices. Then they extended the deadline to January 30 “due to sensitivity to the economy.” Could it be that the Falcons just cannot give seats away?

Hopefully their loss will once again be my gain. I put in a relocation request to see if I could move a little deeper in the corner, towards the Falcons sideline, or maybe even one level down. Have some money tucked away because these seats will be more that $25 a pop. Either way, I plan to re-up for next year.

Falcons 2009 Schedule
Thanks to having a winning record, making the playoffs, and playing in the oh so tough NFL South, the Falcons are going to have an interesting schedule next year.

Home games include: Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Carolina, Philadelphia, Washington, Buffalo, Miami, and Chicago.

Away games include: Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Carolina, Dallas, NY Giants, New England, NY Jets, and San Francisco.

The Falcons front off brass is going to have a good time trying to figure out how to post back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in franchise history. Yes, you read that right, and this should be priority one so we can get this monkey off our collective backs once and for all.

OK, I think that is enough for now, and I guess this update was not necessarily so BIG but it was a catchy title. And before you ask WTF happened to the old gaming blog, I am not really sure. These days I get more entertainment writing about sports (especially the Falcons, UGA, and Braves) and airguns.

Happy Saturday!

Share

2008 Bowl Picks Round 15

Good grief! It has been a long Bowl season, but it finally comes to this …

FedEx BCS National Championship: #2 Florida (12-1, 7-1 SEC) vs. #1 Oklahoma (12-1, 7-1 Big 12). SEC vs. Big 12 to determine the top dog, and to end the debate for the best conference. Or does it? The Pac-10 went a perfect 5-0 this year; SEC and Big 12 will end the Bowl season with 2-3 losses.

No matter what else happens, there should be plenty of debate over the participants in this game. I do not think there is much question that Florida should be here (SEC bias), but what about Oklahoma? What about Texas? USC? Utah (who am I kidding)?

The line for this one has been all over the place, but always in favor of the Gators. I have see it as low as 1 and as high as 4. As I write this, the Gators are laying 3.5 to the Sooners.

Gators are the pick. This one will be close, but in the end Gators will pull out a 9-13 point margin of victory.

Record to date: 18-12.

Share

2008 Bowl Picks Round 14

The penultimate edition! Last night I lost against the spread, but no matter, I will always take a Texas win. Good thing for Ohio St. fans; they actually showed up for a Bowl game. Now all the talk will begin about how Ohio St. was not such a completely shitty team; anything to make the Big Ten and Ohio St. feel better. 1-6 in Bowls games this year tells the true story for the Big Ten. Their lone win was against a .500 South Carolina that was obviously not Bowl worthy.  Hey, if you want to have the Iowa Hawkeyes carry your banner, that is your own business.  Good luck with that one.

GMAC Bowl: #22 Ball St (12-1, 8-0 MAC) vs. Tulsa (10-3, 7-1 C-USA). I am going to go with the Cardinals dropping two in a row. The Golden Hurricane is giving up 2.5, but they will win by a couple of scores.

Record to date: 17-12.

Share

2008 Bowl Picks Round 13

Lucky 13 brings us to the final three games. And you thought there was just tonight’s Orange and Thursday’s BCS match-up. Nope. Do not forget about tomorrow’s all important GMAC Bowl, but I digress because it is time to Hook ’em!

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: #10 Ohio St. (10-2, 7-1 Big Ten) vs. #3 Texas (11-1, 7-1 Big 12). Even if the Buckeyes did not have a recent history of … cough, cough … poor play in Bowl games, would you take them and 7.5? Heck no! Texas is the pick!

Record to date: 17-11.

Share

Bird Watching

I may start this as a semi-regular feature. All observations are from my backyard, unless otherwise noted.

So why take up bird watching? It was sort of an accident. I have always had feeders, and of course have enjoyed the birds that frequent the yard. Then of course came the squirrels … err tree rats. Adult airguns in form of a Beeman R7, Beeman R1, and Beeman R1 Carbine quickly followed.

As I have gotten more into the airgun hobby it was natural to stumble across sites, forums, and blogs that discuss defending cavity nesting birds from such non native species as European Starlings. Sparrows are also a favorite pest species to “remove” from one’s property. Ah, but which sparrows? One sparrow looks like another until you take the time to properly identify your intended target. As I said, one accident (misidentification) sort of led me into this potential new hobby.

It should also be noted that according to the 2008-2009 Georgia Hunting Regulations:

COYOTES, ARMADILLOS, GROUNDHOGS, BEAVERS, STARLINGS, PIGEONS AND ENGLISH SPARROWS: No closed season. No limit.

Now onto my observations …

Today (01-04-09)
Cardinal (male)
Carolina Wren
English Sparrow (male)
House Sparrow (male and female)
Mockingbird
Mourning Dove
White-throated Sparrow
*Unidentified: Mostly drab grey (maybe olive green), with yellow tip tail feathers. Medium sized ~8-9″ long; 3-5 in a group.
*Unidentified: Mostly drab grey; maybe slightly blue-ish tint. Small sized ~5-6″ long. Eating berries in the palm tree?

01-03-09
Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Wren
Cardinal (male and female)
House Finch (male)
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Tufted Titmouse
White-throated Sparrow
*Unidentified: Canada Goose? Flying overhead in “v-shaped” formation (~25 birds).

01-02-09
Brown Thrasher
Carolina Wren
Cardinal (male and female)
English Sparrow (male)
House Sparrow (male)
Mourning Dove

01-01-09
Brown Thrasher
Carolina Wren
Cardinal (male and female)
English Sparrow (male)
House Sparrow (male)
House Finch (male)
Mourning Dove
Pileated Woodpecker
White-throated Sparrow

Share

2008 Bowl Picks Round 12

Or the Go Falcons! Edition. How can I be so right, yet so wrong? The Red Raiders proved that they were not so hot, getting handily corralled at the hands of the Rebels from Oxford. Kentucky showed me that I should not pick against the SEC, and that they where not in the same piss poor category as the Fighting Chickens. Finally, WTF happened to the Elephants? Seriously, I thought they would win, but I did not like the point spread. Did anyone really think they would lay down for Utah? The end result was a 2-1 day.

I am surprised that we are going Bowling today since today is all about the Falcons and the NFL playoffs, but duty calls, so I am obligated to make a selection.

International Bowl: Buffalo (8-5, 5-3 MAC) vs. Connecticut (7-5, 3-4 Big East). Not sure if they get any harder to pick or watch than this one. I am going to go with the points and take Buffalo with the 6.5, but I am not sure why anyone is bothering to play this game.

Record to date: 16-11.

Share

2008 Bowl Picks Round 11

Yesterday was a solid 3-2 day with a healthy serving of Bulldogs and another Big Ten whipping. Today we get three more games …

Cotton Bowl: #25 Mississippi (8-4, 5-3 SEC) vs. #7 Texas Tech (11-1, 7-1 Big 12). Ole Miss is getting 4.5, and this is the game where Texas really goes “WTF happened?” The Red Raiders will leave no doubt that the Oklahoma drubbing was no fluke.

Autozone Liberty Bowl: Kentucky (6-6, 2-6 SEC) vs. East Carolina (9-4, 6-2 C-USA). If I thought the Fighting Chickens were a piss poor representation of the SEC, I am not sure what the kitty cats are doing in this game. They are getting 2.5, and it pains me to pick against them, but the Rum Runners are the pick. Still going to pull for a Kentucky upset.

Allstate Sugar Bowl: #6 Utah (12-0, 8-0 MWC) vs. #4 Alabama (12-1, 8-0 SEC). I think the Tide will win, just not by 9. So in the spirit of picking against the spread, Utah is the pick.

I have a feeling that I may be going 0-3 today, but who cares? The Bulldogs won yesterday, so all is right with the world.

Record to date: 14-10.

Share

2008 Bowl Picks Round 10

Or the Happy New Year Edition! Yesterday was a banner day, as I got 3 out of 4 picks correct, moving me back over .500 for the first time in a while. Thanks to Houston for covering, Oregon St. squeaking by in a (good grief) 3-0 game, and congratulations to Vanderbilt for winning a bowl game for the first time in pretty much forever. The one game I lost, begrudgingly taking the Bumble Bees over the LSU Tigers, restored my faith in the SEC. Thanks to the Tigers for beating the shit out of Tech!

Today gives us a tasty serving of games to go with black-eye peas, thick chops on the grill, and a bunch of cold ones. Let’s get down to business!

Outback Bowl: South Carolina (7-5, 4-4 SEC) vs. Iowa (8-4, 5-3 Big Ten). Are you kidding? Hawkeyes are favored by 3.5 over one of the more piss poor SEC teams to land a Bowl game? Iowa is not Georgia Tech, so don’t expect me to go on a run against SEC teams. The Fighting Chickens are the pick.

Gator Bowl: Nebraska (8-4, 5-3 Big 12) vs. Clemson (7-5, 4-4 ACC). I am sorry but Big 12/ACC match-ups are just not very compelling. The ACC sucks (see Georgia Tech last night in Bowl formally known as The Peach Bowl), but Nebraska is luck to get out of the cold and visit the Sunshine State. The Tigers are laying 2.5 to the Corn Huskers (WTF kind of nickname is that?). I cannot stand Clemson, but those farm boys from Nebraska are not ready for the tobacco road boys from Carolina. Oh this pains me to do this, but Clemson is the pick.

The Rose Bowl: #8 Penn St (11-1, 7-1 Big Ten) vs. #5 USC (11-1, 8-1 Pac-10). This is where everyone comes back to earth and realizes that the Big Ten really does suck. No one except the media cares for this outdated brand of football.  USC will completely embarrass Penn St., and the 8.5 points the Nittany Lions are getting will not be enough. Besides, how can you pick against great looking cheerleaders in tight fitting sweaters?  Mmmm … yum.

FedEx Orange Bowl:#12 Cincinnati (11-2, 6-1 Big East) vs. #19 Virginia Tech (9-4, 5-3 ACC). The last Bowl game of the day happens to be the worst offering. Hopefully I will be inebriated by the time this one rolls around. Who came up with the bight idea of letting the Big East into a big boy game? How did a 4 loss ACC team even manage to land a big pay day? Since I have to pick someone, I am going to take the points (2) and the Hokies because everyone wants to hear Vick references all night.  Not really, but most of these announcers are just too damn predictible.  Seriously, this is Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech.  What else are they going to talk about?

Capital One Bowl: #15 Georgia (9-3, 6-2 SEC) vs. #18 Michigan St (9-3, 6-2 Big Ten). I am not sure why anyone thinks that the Spartans can hang with the Bulldogs. Obviously Vegas does not because the Dawgs are laying 7.5. Funny thing about this one is that the snow birds are happy to be in this Bowl (probably any Bowl), while Georgia is bitterly disappointed because they had National Title inspirations at the beginning of the year. Alas, injuries and poor defensive play made being #1 a mere wet dream. Still, the Dawgs will rebound, much in the same way that LSU kicked the snot out of Georgia Tech (man that was beautiful). Go Dawgs!

Happy New Year!

Record to date: 11-9.

Share