TDL’s Sports, Wrestling, & Otherwise

Right on schedule, the week that I check my standings, I come in with a solid 5 win week. The lesson, as always, there will be time enough for counting when the dealin’s done.

Week 13

Thursday

W/L - Packers +6.5 at Cowboys: Packers +6.5. I had this pick correct and then I let Simmons talk me out of it. The lesson, as always, don’t listen to a guy getting housed by his wife in picks on the season.

Sunday

L/L - Lions +3.5 at Vikings: Lions outright. Never underestimate the power of a holyf*ck running back. The Lions are collapsing off their 10 win guarantee right out of the playoffs. On the other hand, a really crappy looking (for most of the season) Vikings team is looking to sneak in to the 6th playoff slot. This kind of crap is what makes the NFL exciting. It’s what makes people look beyond the fact that the league treats its fans with just a little less contempt than an ER nurse treats a junkie.

L/L - Seahawks +3 at Eagles: Eagles cover. You know the difference between a good quarterback and a career backup? Three plays per game. The reason Feeley can never be taken seriously is because he kills his team when the game is on the line.

L/L - Falcons +4.5 at Rams: Falcons outright. I hate this point in the season because teams in garbage time always react differently. Apparently the Rams have decided to try out “winning.”

L/L - Texans +4 at Titans: Texans outright. The Titans have figured me out so well that they know that I’m going against my first instinct.

L/W - Bills +5.5 at Redskins: Bills +5.5. Are we ready to start seeing articles about how the new Bills’ quarterback is going to be a diamond in the rough?

W/W - Niners +3 at Panthers: Niners outright. I don’t know how anyone can legitimately give points to any team facing the Panthers. They are god-awful.

W/W - Jaguars +7 at Colts: Jags +7. You could make a lot of money this year taking the Jags when they get points… or a lot of money taking the Jags. They’re horrifically under-rated by just about everyone.

W/W - Chargers -4.5 at Chiefs: Chargers cover. Where the Royals at?

L/L - Jets +2 at Dolphins: Dolphins cover. Ladies and Gentlemen: the first ever 0-16 team.

L/L - Browns +1.5 at Cardinals: Browns outright. I can’t pick the Cardinals for crap.

L/L - Broncos -3.5 at Raiders: Broncos cover.

L/L - Bucs +3 at Saints: Saints cover. My faith in the bandwagon was shaken and I paid for it. I now pray for Mr. Garcia’s forgiveness.

W/W - Giants -1.5 at Bears: Giants cover. An ugly win’s still a win.

W/W - Bengals +8 at Steelers: Steelers cover. Who’s the bigger disappointment this season? The Saints or the Bengals?

Monday

W/L - Patriots -21 vs Ravens: Patriots cover. 55 points for the predicted 48-7 shellacking.
Remember in the not so distant past when I said I always need to go against my first instinct when picking the Ravens? Yeah, I forgot, too. Of course, I almost nailed the tiebreak in my crappy week.

Straight Up: 7-9
Against the Spread: 6-10

Week 14

Thursday
L/L - Bears +3 at Redskins: Bears outright. There’s a bar near my apartment called The Patriot that I go to every few months. It’s kind of like what you would think Coyote Ugly would be like if it wasn’t all corporate… attainably hot bartenders, frequent buybacks, bartenders who pour free shots down your gullet while dancing on the bar, and bad country music and southern rock. I went there during this game. They didn’t have the game (no NFL network) but it was French Maid Night for the bartenders. Thursday night is apparently theme night. I tell this story for no real reason other than it’s where I was on Thursday night.

Sunday

W/W - Dolphins +7 at Bills: Bills cover. At this point, I do almost feel bad for Dolphin fans. Almost.

W/W - Rams +6 at Bengals: Bengals cover. Well, at least they can still beat the crappy teams on their schedule. That’s something, right?

W/L - Cowboys -10.5 at Lions: Cowboys cover. You know, I was watching the score of this game while watching the Giant game… not really because I thought the Cowboys were going to fall apart and the Giants could still take the division but frankly out of curiousity as to whether or not the Lions were completely done. I went from elation (20-0), to disbelief (at 27-21) to stunned (28-27) to pure hatred again. Hulse: “All these years I couldn’t understand why Bear fans hated Brett Favre so much. He always seemed like a nice guy and, sure, he beat up your team a couple times a season, but he didn’t seem to rub it in. I get it now. Tony Romo is Brett Favre. He seems like a real nice, happy guy who wouldn’t suck to have a BBQ with… but I want to throw hot coffee on him.”

W/L - Raiders +10 at Packers: Packers cover. I have lost my Raider mojo. I made karma angry by speaking of it.

L/L - Bucs -2.5 at Texans: Bandwagon. Bucs cover. This is my punishment for turning on the bandwagon. I’m not being allowed back on.

W/W - Panthers +10 at Jaguars: Jaguars cover. This spread may as well have been 20 points, too.

W/W - Giants +3 at Eagles: Giants outright. The Giants’ inability to put teams away when they have them on the ropes is going to quickly become a problem. If it doesn’t bite them in the first week of the playoffs, it will certainly bite them if they ever get the Pack or the Cowboys on the ropes.

W/W - Chargers -2 at Titans: Chargers cover. I picked a Titans game correctly. I should retire.

W/W - Vikings -7 at Niners: Vikings cover. The good thing about this Vikings team is that the Giants won’t have to play them in the first round of the playoffs.

W/L - Cardinals +6.5 at Seahawks: Cardinals +6.5. I’m amazed that the ‘hawks still have a chance at 11 wins.

W/W - Chiefs +6.5 at Broncos: Stick a fork in the Chiefs. Broncos cover.

W/W - Browns -3.5 at Jets: Browns cover. Guess which game I got to watch instead of Pats/Steelers.

W/L - Steelers +14.5 at Patriots: Steelers +14.5. Unreal.

W/W - Colts -10 at Ravens: Colts cover. Hey guys… remember me? 6′5″… laser rocket arm? Hello?

Monday

W/W - Falcons +5.5 at Saints: Saints cover. Didn’t see a second of this game. It was my office Christmas Party. Hoo doctor.

Straight Up: 14-2
Against the spread: 10-6

Overall:
- Straight up: 135-73
- Against the spread: 113-88-7

Back at the beginning of the television season I wrote a little about the new shows I was going to start following. Let’s see if anything’s changed.

The Next Great American Band

What I Said Then: An extension of above, with only 3 million people watching, I think you can probably narrow down who’s going to win. It’s not going to be one of the quirky or different bands… it’s going to be one of the classic rock-y type bands like Sixwire or The Muggs. Why they didn’t give this show Monday Night at 9pm or Thursday Night at 8pm… to give it a shot in hell… I have no idea.

What I Say Now: The best band on the show, Franklin Bridge, got bumped off a couple of weeks ago. The second best band, Sixwire, is still around. Unfortunately, so is the Heavy Metal Hanson. Vote For The Worst.com doesn’t really have the power to affect a show where 40 million people vote every week… but apparently it can affect a show that only 3 million people are watching. They’re going to win and it’s going to be a joke. Since I’m a masochist, I’ll watch it through to the end.

Moonlight

What I Said Then: I have a really bad feeling about this show’s shelf life. It’s fortunately part of what appears to be “Supernatural Crap Friday” on CBS so it should at least get the whole season to work out. Unfortunately, I think it’s borrowing WAY too much from other Vampire shows to be a long-running program.

What I Say Now: I’m still watching it, although I’ve already accepted that it’s a terrible show. This has only been re-enforced over the last couple weeks as I’ve watched through the last bit of Angel. For whatever reason, Joss Whedon’s team is the only group that’s ever made a vampire show not seem horribly cheesy. Maybe it’s that Whedonverse vampires don’t hiss before they attack each other. Maybe it’s that pretty much everyone on Whedonverse shows are good actors. Maybe it was the fact that the writing was strong enough to make suspension of disbelief simple instead of a chore. Whatever it is, this show is doing nothing for me. I keep waiting. I get some more time as the show’s been picked up for 2008.

Pushing Daisies

What I Said Then: Really, I’m not sure if I should file this as a pro or a con because I’m not sure how I feel about it. The whole show is filmed like a weird indie movie that I normally wouldn’t like. It has a narrator who comes into the story and describes things going on in the background… most of the dialog is deadpanned and weird… the characters are very, very strange. Every fiber of this show screams “too cool for the room indie movie and you should absolutely hate this” right down to the crazy wardrobe on the women. Yet, for some reason… I like it. The mental tugging between “you should hate this!” and “but I don’t!” is painful.

What I Say Now: The mental tug-of-war has ended. I do really like the show. Surprisingly, they’ve made the whole “can’t touch each other” thing work. It’s cute. The show manages to be about death and not be too morbid. No complaints.

Back To You

What I Said Then: I hated Deborah on Everybody Loves Raymond. It got to the point toward the end of the show when I couldn’t even watch it anymore because of her. Later, when Robert’s wife turned out to be Deborah Jr, I could stand it even less. Patricia Heaton might be a really nice person in real life, but I can only see her as the over-reacting, nagging shrew she played on Raymond and, apparently, she plays the same character in this show.

What I Say Now: It’s Everybody Loves Raymond with different relationships between the characters. I really dislike Patricia Heaton’s character and I loathe how they have to make her right in each episode. To the credit, they rewrote the weather girl a few episodes in to stop her from being a complete stereotype. Ms. L loves it, though, so it’ll probably stay on the DVR line-up whenever there starts being episodes again.

Reaper

What I Said Then: I can’t pick a character that I don’t like on the show. Ray Wise plays Satan in the Al Pacino Devil’s Advocate kind of way. He tempts, but doesn’t force. He’s suave… dapper… and the kind of guy you’d sell your soul to. He’s perfect. Sock comes across as the perfect comic relief and is a Kevin Smith character through and through. I like that type of character.

What I Say Now: This show is kind of fading on me. Each episode has been very formulaic. It’s the same show week after week. The few interesting pieces of plot they’ve started (like Sam’s dad burning certain pages of the contract) were never mentioned again. My other problem I’ve mentioned previously: how is it that all these souls escaping from hell happen to wash up in this one city? Wouldn’t word get around, at some point, that this city is exactly where the newly escaped souls don’t want to be? I still really like the show, I just want some plot. Also, they really need to just tell the two girls on the show what’s going on. It’s reaching the point of absurdity that these two girls don’t realize that something weird is going on. Give me some mythology… something.

K-Ville

What I Said Then: The show is about as stereotypical a cop show as it comes. The mis-matched partners who don’t trust each other at first but then become buddies toward the end. They form a shaky partnership at the end and Boulet agrees to keep Cobb’s dark secret: when the flood hit he was in prison, but since all of New Orleans’ computer records were wiped out, he was able to make a fresh start.

What I Say Now: It got 3 episodes to hook me, and then the DVR got too crowded and it lost it’s slot in the line-up.

Journeyman

What I Said Then: Final Thought: I enjoyed it… I didn’t find myself writing this instead of watching it and I think the story’s interesting enough for now. Upgraded to series recording.

What I Say Now: This show has been my favorite of the new season. Like Reaper, each episode is formulaic, but there’s enough plot being seeded in to keep the show interesting. Each episode gives us a life that Dan has to save, but he’s also leaving clues about himself throughout the time line. There are time scientists showing up at various points dropping hints that someone knows what’s going on. The FBI’s appearance and the agent’s declaration that “they always need money” seems to indicate that they have some idea of what’s going on. Naturally, since the show is my favorite of the new season, its time is up. The remaining episodes will air as scheduled and its 13 episode run will be over. At the very least, it’s suggested that most of the show’s loose ends will be tied up.