Red 70 Blackstar! Red 70 Blackstar!

That's right, we're calling an audible and giving you guys a special Halloween edition of the picks! Knute Rockne just turned in his grave.

As said last week, I spent a better part of Sunday in Foxboro, and I had pretty good seats, as the picture below will tell you. Right at the 45 yard-line! Rest of the week has been pretty busy, I've had multiple presentations, I went to see "The Women" on Tuesday, and I have taken it upon myself to put together this lightbox for use at the final exam in my theatre tech class.

Today is, as we all know, Halloween, and I have no idea what costume I'm going to wear. No idea. Going to buckland later on, will find something there, I hope.

But, the reason you are all here, the Week 9 picks, sponsored by Skittles. As always, no pick on the Pats game, which this week is going to be a good game, no matter who's winning.

Arizona
@ St. Louis
Three good games in a row by the Rams, after the firing of Scott Linehan. The Birds of Prey had a good outing with Carolina last week, but ultimately lost. Kurt Warner should be able to exploit the Rams questionable pass defense for a win here.
Pick: Arizona -3.0

New York
@ Buffalo
Tough game to predict. Which Bills offense will show up? Which Brett Favre will show up? I think Buffalo rights the ship after last weeks horrendous loss to the Dolphins.
Pick: Buffalo -5.5

Tampa Bay
@ Kansas City
Trap game potential? You tell me. Tampa is coming off a close loss to the Cowboys, while the Chiefs have looked miserable all year except for that win over Denver. The Bucs will have to step it up this game if they want to be considered for the South crown in the NFC.
Pick: Tampa Bay -8.5

Jacksonville
@ Cincinnati
Them Jags lost to Cleveland last week. Impossible to predict this season, though I will say this: if the Jaguars drop this game, they do not deserve to mentioned as one of the top 6 teams in the AFC.
Pick: Jacksonville -7.0

Baltimore
@ Cleveland
What to make of Baltimore? What to make of Cleveland? The Browns have won two games they had no business winning, Baltimore is sniffing on a Wild-Card spot right now. I say this is a toss up, especially with the Ravens getting one and a half on the road.
Pick: Baltimore +1.5

Houston
@ Minnesota
Pick: Houston +4.0

Detroit
@ Chicago
Am I taking the points in this one? Hell no! Detroit looks awful and the Bears seem to have recovered their swagger, sitting atop the North tied with Green Bay. I think the Bears will continue to roll at home against a team that is in a bigger mess than the American economy.
Pick: Chicago -12.5

Green Bay
@ Tennessee
Good game! Kerry Collins rolled to another victory on Monday, keeping them as the only undefeated team in the NFL. This could be a statement game for Green Bay, and you know they would love to dethrone Tennessee. And, for some reason, I like the Pack in this game. Maybe it's the five and a half on the road? I do not know, but I'm still taking it!
Pick: Green Bay +5.5

Miami
@ Denver
Pick: Denver -3.5

Dallas
@ New York
Ooooooh, this one's going to be fun! And then we remember Brad Johnson is QBing the Romo-Simpson less Cowboys. I still think they will cover, but they are not going to win.
Pick: Dallas +8.0

Atlanta
@ Oakland
Pick: Atlanta -2.5

Philadelphia
@ Seattle
I am not sold on Philly, even though they burned me last week. And Seattle is still without Matt Hasselbeck and Deion "Show me the money" Branch. Should be Philly in a blowout.
Pick: Philadelphia -6.5

Pittsburgh
@ Washington
Good Mondag night game, both teams coming of Ws. I still think Washington is a good team, and they should make the playoffs. The Steelers should run away with their own divison, unless they suffer a setback in the Gigli range down the stretch. Anyway, I'm taking the Skins at home.
Pick: Washington -2.0

Bye: Carolina, New Orleans, San Diego, San Francisco

Last week: 6-6-1

Season: 53-51-4

26 de Octubre

I am up at 7am on a Sunday, headed to Foxboro in about 40 minutes. The wind has calmed down considerably since last night, and it appears that the rain has stopped too.

I would like to congratulate my brother on his 23rd birthday today. If you know him, give him a shout. Congrats H! You're an inspiration to a lot of people, including myself.

Week 8 picks

We have a great batch of games coming up this weekend, highlighted by the Saints-Chargers debacle in London, England. Last week included its fair share of fun too, I of course loved that the Pats were able to overcome 6 sacks to put a stomping on the Broncos. I managed to get a ticket for the game this weekend, so there will be no writing until late on Sunday. On to the action, and as always, no pick on the Pats game.

Tampa Bay
@ Dallas
Nice loss by the Cowboys last week. Jerry Jones should stick to business, and let them Boys play! That being said, good choice to trade for Roy Williams, since Roy Williams went out with a season ending injury. That leaves only one Roy Williams on the roster, wich probably makes it a lot easier for Jessica Simpson to keep track of whom Tony Romo should be throwing to. Should we take Tampa Bay here? Yes we should.
Pick: Tampa Bay +2.5

San Diego
vs. New Orleans @ Wembley
This is a home game for New Orleans, which makes sense, right? Both teams lost kinda hard last week. We hate the Chargers and their pass defence sucks. Trap game warning.
Pick: New Orleans +3.0

Buffalo
@ Miami
The Dolphins looked awful against Baltimore. The Bills looked good against the aforementioned Chargers. And giving only 2 points on the road in the East? Easy money.
Pick: Buffalo -2.0

Oakland
@ Baltimore
Really? Only 7 points for the anemic offense of the Al Davises?
Pick: Baltimore -7.0

Kansas City
@ New York
And the Bretts are getting thirteen on them Chiefs. Can they cover? I want to say yes, but I remember the lackluster performance against Oakland last week. Plus their starting receiver is out. Don't you just love it when I'm way off my predictions? Like me saying the Jets were gonna cover easily last week. If I pick the Chiefs, and the Jets run all over them, I'm an ass. If I pick the Jets, and the Chiefs cover, I'm an idiot for riding Bretts bandtractor. It's gonna be mad fun though, watching Tyler and Brett wing it....yeah.
Pick: Kansas City +13.0

Atlanta
@ Philadelphia
Go Matt go! Philly has struggled of late, and Atlanta, well, I don't know bout them either. But they are looking better than what anyone could have thought. Let's give them a chance against Philly.
Pick: Atlanta +9.0

Arizona
@ Carolina
I really like Arizona this year, and by saying that I probably killed off their 3 fans by jinxing their season. Sorry guys. Meanwhile, Carolina has been up and down like Kevin Bacon's career. We'll take Carolina just to see if they are for real.
Pick: Carolina -4.0

Washington
@ Detroit
Don't you feel like Detroit is in for one of those upset-specials? Or are they just shitty this season? I can't tell which one it is. And Washington have played 2 bad games in a row, nearly going into OT against the Browns. Jason Campbell SHOULD shred the defense with the help of Clinton Portis. Should.
Pick: Washington -7.5

Cleveland
@ Jacksonville
So, which one of you guys will step up in this game? Distance yourself from the losers? Jacksonville? My fantasy team is looking for a good game from Maurice Jones-Drew, which means they'll probably throw downfield every single down. And lose.
Pick: Jacksonville -7.0

Cincinnati
@ Houston
The Texans didn't cover against a winless team last week. So they are giving a full point extra this week? That makes sense. Right? (By the way, I really really don't like this game. I have no feeling about it, whatsoever.)
Pick: Cincinnati +9.5

Seattle
@ San Francisco
Pick: San Francisco -4.5

New York
@ Pittsburgh
God I hate New York. But they are getting 3 on the road.
Pick: New York +3.0

Indianapolis
@ Tennessee
Anybody else feel like the Titans are one bad Kerry Collins game away from their first loss? Me too. That being said, 3 or 4 weeks ago I did tell Roggen that I felt he was the QB doing the best job in the league right now. And it's true. He's been consistently average. He hasn't cost his team a game yet. That's good enough for me!
Pick: Tennessee -4.0

Bye: Chicago, Denver, Green Bay, Minnesota (whos idea was it to have 3 of 4 NFC North teams on a bye the same week?)

Last week: 6-6-1

Season: 47-45-3

Good times...

This week is packed with homework and projects and possibly some work too. And, I can get cheap tickets to the Pats game, if I want to go. Mom and dad are going to London tomorrow, wish them a safe flight!

Having a bit of trouble with my fantasy lineup this week, help me choose 2 of the following wide receivers: Josh Reed, Roscoe Parrish, Lance Moore and Nate Washington. Moore and Parrish are currently on my roster, but the other two are available on waivers.

Why do people use their phones in the middle of class? This is like middle school all over again. Grow up!!

Tired, and it's not even 8pm. See you tomorrow!

Topic sentence

Last night came with mixed feelings. Most of the games in the NFL went the way I wanted them to (Note: I might pick a game different than what I hope for, simply because of the odds), Rosenborg only played to a draw, Stabæk won the National Championship and the Sox lost game 7. Needless to say, the last part was tough to swallow, but at least now we can hope Philadelphia has it's first title since nineteen-doesanybodyknow.

Had a great weekend, with lots of good food, courtesy of my family's friends. Got to watch part of the Sarah Palin skit on SNL, and the rap was really hilarious. If you haven't seen it, it's available at nbc.com I believe.

Played Game 2 in the intramural league last night, I think we lost 27-13. Again, I played mostly o-line and cornerback, but I had a short stint at QB once the game was out of reach. It was bloody cold though, I don't think I've ever played a game before in that temperature. Gotta run, shipments are waiting. Go Pats!

Yessss!

And we're tied at 3! Papelbon just tied up the series with a flawless ninth, so we will have game seven tomorrow. I should be heading to bed real soon.

Congratulations to the Lerkendal Lions for taking home their 3rd DFL championship, this time, unfortunately, without me. The annual Domers MVP-party was held tonight back home, I'll try to bring you guys some info on who won, but I'd really like to take the time to thank everyone in the organization, players, coaches, alumni and everyone else that helped out during the season. I had major fun playing and it was good to see that we can overcome obstacles and still compete at a high level. Kjetil and Billy deserve special recognition for their contributions. We really couldn't have played this season without you. Thanks guys, enjoy the scotch :)

Boston f-ing Red Sox!

Just got back from the bar, and I'll tell you, the roof was popping when Drew got that last hit. Down 7-0, we come back and win it, 8-7. Ho-ly shit!

But, as I promised, here are your week 7 picks, minus the Pats game, presented by watery American beer:

San Diego
@ Buffalo
Boy, the Chargers sure put a stompin' on the Pats last week. And they are favored against the Bills. As much as I hate the Bolts, I have to pick them in this game.
Pick: San Diego -1.0

San Francisco
@ New York
Everytime I pick someone to cover a huge spread, they barely eek out a victory or they loose. So what are we to do with this game, with a double-digit spread? My advice: take the points, and hope Eli has another default day at the office.
Pick: San Francisco

Minnesota
@ Chicago
Well, last time we picked Minny because of Winge, and they didn't cover. This week, they are given 3 against Chicago. I'll let last week slide, and be nice to the Purple People.
Pick: Minnesota

Pittsburgh
@ Cincinnati
Nine points is alot for this Steelers team, but the Bungels have looked like crap through the first weeks of the season. I'm not playing this game, but if you have to, the Steelers are your bet.
Pick: Pittsburgh -9.0

Tennessee
@ Kansas City
Do we know who's playing QB for KC? Tyler? Damon?
Pick: Tennessee -9.0

Baltimore
@ Miami
Pick: Miami -3.0

Dallas
@ St. Louis
Good win for the Rams and my brother last week. Good loss for the Cowboys (I hate them). Let's see if they both can keep it up with Tony Romo Simpson out for a couple of weeks. (He want's to play, but he's hurt)
Pick: St. Louis +7.0

New Orleans
@ Carolina
Saints are getting 3 on the road with an explosive offense. Carolina got manhandled last week. Potential trap game though, watch out for the Saints shaky D.
Pick: New Orleans +3.0

Detroit
@ Houston
Eight and a half? To me, this line is way too high, considering how the Texans how played. Then I remember, the team on the other side just traded their best player, and they played like shit WITH him on the field.
Pick: Houston -8.5

Cleveland
@ Washington
Impressing win by the Browns Monday night. Not a good game for the Skins against the Rams. Not sold on either of these teams after last week, so let's take the points and see what happens.
Pick: Cleveland +7.0

New York
@ Oakland
Hate the Bretts. They're still gonna win this one relatively easy.
Pick: New York -3.0

Indianapolis
@ Green Bay
Difficult game. D-I-FF-I-CULT GAME! Really not sure where the Colts are headed, and I'm definetely not sure about the Packers after that outing two weeks ago. Let's make a coin toss: heads, it's the Pack. Tails, it's the Colts.
Pick: Green Bay +1.0

Seattle
@ Tampa Bay
Pick: Tampa Bay

Bye: Arizona, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Philadelphia

Last week: 6-7

Season: 41-39-2

Picture experiment

A couple of photos from the Mets game I attended earlier this fall. (I know, they're very, very late) It was a really boring game that the Mets eventually lost. The game was part of a double-header, in which Pedro was pitching the second one, but of course we didn't get to stay for the late game.This first picture is taken from my seat, over to the new Citi Stadium that's replacing Shea next year.This picture is taken the other way, down towards a Mets at-bat. I really can't tell who's pitching or hitting, but the Mets did not score until the 7th I think, and this is earlier. All pictures taken on a Nokia N76 camera, which isn't all that bad it turns out.This last one is of Johan Santana pitching. He had a pretty decent game, I think he only gave up one run before they pulled him in the eighth.

Picks will be with you guys shortly, stay tuned!

Football (and stuff)

But this time, I was playing myself! Skadoosh, which is my team ran over the other guys for a 20-12 victory in the first game of this year's intramural tournament. I had a good enough day as cornerback and a decent outing as center, but the most important thing is we won! Sipping on a cold one now, will be going to bed soon.

Domers are throwing their annual MVP-party this Saturday at Rick's Café in Trondheim. I envy all of you who are going, wish I could be there with you guys.

Picks coming tomorrow! In the meantime, sit back and enjoy The Rising, courtesy of The Boss and his E-Street Band...

...

How I wish
How I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish-bowl
Year after year
Running over the same old ground
What have we found
The same old fears
Wish you were here...

I removed

the song one, wasn't happy with it. Will check back with you tomorrow, good night!

Machines and machetes

Had my first mid-term on Thursday, it went pretty well, despite a topic that smelled like donkey shit. More of these coming up the next two weeks, and as we all know, mid-terms are a great American tradition, along with Thanksgiving, and O.J. Simpson trials.

Got a pretty decent team going for the flag football tournament starting next week. Our captain named us "Skadoosh", I don't know what it means, but it has a nice ring to it. We'll probably get uniforms within a week or so, to complete the look.

I feel like I am the only one from Norway feeling the impact of the economic collapse, simply because the Norwegian market decided to go die BEFORE I got my loan. Thanks a lot, SELF! Seriously, would it kill you guys to maybe adjust the amount paid out, to deal with stuff like inflation or foreign currency for us studying abroad? And all the paperwork! It's like filling out a complete medical self-exam, with all the extra checks that you get once a decade. They have really managed to piss me off this time, I can't believe how incompetent they are. No communication skills, no global economic skills, and apparently, no clue on deadlines!

Done with the rant, at least for now. I'm looking to maybe do something special for you guys this month, maybe a guest writer, a live-blog event or something. We'll see what I can come up with, in terms of time and availability. For now, this is Eddie at WZC 92.1 saying good bye. Here's Mark Knopfler, Sucker Row...

Week 6 picks

How I managed to NOT make a pick on the Atlanta-Green Bay game last week, I don't know. Momentary insanity maybe? Anyhoo, here's this weeks picks, minus New England of course. Should be a non-football update shortly. PS: The Coin did pretty good last week, so we might have it back for a guest performance later this season.

Cincinnati
@ New York
New York Bretts, looking pretty good. Cincinnati Bungels, looking for first win. They won't get it this week either. The Bretts offense is putting up points like crazy, and the Cincinnati defense ain't exactly the Bears of '85.
Pick: New york -5.5

Detroit
@ Minnesota
Winge has been bustin' balls about me not picking Minnesota once this season (I haven't checked if this is correct, someone let me know). So, in honor of the feeble attempt at pro-football that is the Detroit Lions, we will pick them to loose this game.
Pick: Minnesota -13.0

Miami
@ Houston
Sage Rosenfels gave away last weeks game. Miami knocked of last years Conference title game teams in back-to-back week. Roggen must be proud. I'm taking Miami and the points in this one, but this is a potential trap game.
Pick: Miami +3.0

Carolina
@ Tampa Bay
Big Divison game in the south! Carolina blanked KC last week in a pretty impressive showing. Tampa Bay walked the Broncos to the door in a close one. Should make for an interesting showdown.
Pick: Carolina +1.0

Oakland
@ New Orleans
Al Davis is full of s**t. I would probably work for him if he offered me the head coaching position, but I would only do it for the money. I really can't understand why anyone would work for him when he undermines his coaches decisions and talks trash in front of the players when the coach is not there. New Orleans actually cost me a victory in the Domers League this weekend, I lost with 1 point, because of Drew Brees' last interception. They should still be able to right the ship against the silver and black.
Pick: New Orleans -7.5

St. Louis
@ Washington
The 'Skins have been playing good ball since their Week 1 loss. The Rams have not played good ball since...can anyone remember?
Pick: Washington -13.0

Chicago
@ Atlanta
Surprise surprise! Two teams in waaaaay better shape than anyone would have thought at the beginning of the season. How the Falcons can handle the pressure from Chicago's front will tell you how many wins they'll get this season. (No scientific formula here, I just think we'll see Matt Ryan under more pressure than in any game earlier)(By the way, I am very in doubt about this game, so if you don't have a good feeling about any of the teams, stay away)
Pick: Chicago -2.5

Baltimore
@ Indianapolis
The Colts are two opposing-QB-giving-away-the-game fourth quarters from being 0-4. Ho-ly mackerell. And this Baltimore team is not stable enough yet, some weeks they're awesome, the next, they stink. This line is a couple points too high for me, but you might want to take the points.
Pick: Baltimore +4.5

Jacksonville
@ Denver
Pick: Jacksonville +3.5

Green Bay
@ Seattle
The Pack really need this win, if they wan't to stay in the hunt for the Division title. No no, they need it. Bad. And I don't think Seattle is going to be too difficult. Not at this spread at least.
Pick: Green Bay +2.5

Dallas
@ Arizona
Did Dallas struggle against the Bengals last week? Did I miss something?
Pick: Arizona +5.0

Philadelphia
@ San Francisco
Both these teams lost last week, and none of them really seemed to have any comeback ready when they fell behind. This is a tough game to predict, but I think I will take the Niners, because they are at home and getting four and a half.
Pick San Francisco +4.5

New York
@ Cleveland
Pick: New York -7.5

Bye: Buffalo, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Tennessee

Last week: 7-3-2

Season: 35-32-2

If your

teacher doesn't show up at the time he or she is supposed to be there, you get the class off. However, you must wait, 10 minutes for a regular teacher, 15 minutes for a Dr, before you can leave.

Bob Wischusen

Bob has said "3rd down and a mile" twice today, both on 3rd & 19. Coincidental?

Warning:

The following stunts are performed by professionals in a safe environment, under the supervision of no-one. Do not try this at home.

What the statement above refers to, is a bold experiment. After four weeks of NFL-action, nothing is the way it's supposed to be. Therefore, to prove that it is impossible to predict games at the moment, this weeks picks are being brought to you by a coin. A €2, to be precise. Home teams will be heads, which is the bird-looking figure on one side, and visitors will be tails, the European map on the other side. Edit: The reason for this week being decided by a coin is because I went 5-8 last week. Let's see if a coin can do better than me...

Edit#2: Obviously, no pick on the Patriots game.

Seattle
@ New York
Exciting game. It will be interesting to see if New York can bounce back from that awful showing against Cincy. I wonder when Matt Hasselbeck can throw to a real receiver again...
The coin says: Seattle +7.0

Kansas City
@ Carolina
The Chiefs beat Denver last week. Huge upset. If they can knock of Carolina too, they might have something going.
The coin says: Carolina -9.5

Indianapolis
@ Houston
Must win for Peyton's Posse. They can not afford to drop to 1-3, 0-2 in the division, not with Tennessee looking sharp over the first four weeks. This line is probably the lowest the Texans have gotten against the Colts, ever.
The coin says: Indianapolis -3.0

San Diego
@ Miami
San Diego is not playing up to it's standards, Miami overachieved in one game. How this will play out, I have no idea, but if you forced me to pick, I would leave the answer to the coin.
The coin says: Miami +6.5

Washington
@ Philadelphia
Huge game for Philly, they can not afford to drop another divisional game if they want to contend for a playoff spot. The Redskins looked pretty good against Dallas, and I don't think the game was as close as the final score.
The coin says: Washington +5.5

Chicago
@ Detroit
The coin says: Chicago -3.5

Tennessee
@ Baltimore
The Ravens came o-so close to defeating Pittsburgh last week. The Titans should be a greater challenge, but now that I have disrespected Ray Lewis, he'll probably use that as motivation.
The coin says: Tennessee -3.0

Tampa Bay
@ Denver
Good win for Tampa Bay last week. Horrendous loss for Denver. If Tampa Bay wins this one, they'll establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with. If Denver loses, well, they'll be back in the pack.
The coin says: Denver -3.0

Buffalo
@ Arizona
Kurt Warner threw for 470 yards, Brett Favre had six TDs. Fantasy game all over the place. Buffalo is one of three undefeated teams, and they should be able to continue the streak against the Cards, even though I like Arizona.
The coin says: Arizona -1.0

Cincinnati
@ Dallas
Wow! The Bungels must really suck, 'cause they're getting 17 points on the road. I think that is the biggest spread we've seen all year. Dallas looks like they could be imploding before our very eyes if they lose one or two more games. Getcha popcorn ready!
The coin says: Dallas -17.0

Pittsburgh
@ Jacksonville
The coin says: Pittsburgh +4.0

Minnesota
@ New Orleans
The coin says: New Orleans -3.0

Bye: Cleveland, New York, Oakland, St. Louis.

Last week: 5-8

Season: 28-29

Just a little...

Couple thoughts before Thursday's main event:

VP "debate" tonight, 9pm eastern. I recommend everyone to watch it, even though it's going to be real late/early for some of you. Should be entertaining, considereing Palin is as dumb as a fork and Biden is known for putting his foot in his mouth. I will also be doing a paper on them for Monday. Joy.

More mudball last night, more people, more scoring. I haven't had that much fun playing since the semi-finals this summer. My thigh and my back hurts today, but I don't mind. No pain, no gain. (My team won, and we were outnumbered for almost the entire match.)

Isn't it amazing how people can sue someone for not letting them know that the content of a coffee cup is hot?