One New York Life

Thursday
New York Jets +3.5 at New England Patriots: Great, heavyweight fight for those of us blessed enough to see it. Just to note: I’ll get it on TWO channels while most of the nation will get it on 0. Let me put it this way – If the Jets can’t pull out a win here, I will never pick them against the Patriots while these two coaches are still in play. Jets outright.

Sunday
Denver Broncos +5.5 at Atlanta Falcons: I can’t believe in such a short time that the Falcons have not only reached “respectable” but “borderline playoff team”. Also, in only one year, it’s possible that a 10 win team is going to get left out of the playoffs in the NFC and it’ll be the NFC fans’ turn to moan that the playoff rankings are unfair when a 10 win team gets left out in favor of an 8-8 team in the other conference while the AFC fans defend it. Falcons cover.

Baltimore Ravens +5 at New York Giants: I’ll say – I’m really happy that the Giants are getting these guys at the end of a 3-week road trip. If the Giants weren’t as balanced as they are, I’d be a little more worried about this… but I see a lot of 3rd and shorts going to Domenik Hixon and Fake Steve Smith. Giants probably win this in a tight game. Ravens +5.

Houston Texans +9.5 at Indianapolis Colts: For whatever reason, the Texans usually manage to play the Colts pretty tough. This also is just south of the “double-digit spread, mediocre team” rule. Besides the fact — the Colts don’t really blow the doors off of teams any more. they’ve only beaten one team by 10+ this year. Texans +9.5.

Oakland Raiders +11.5 at Miami Dolphins: I feel there needs to be a caveat on the “double-digit spread, mediocre team” rule when the opponent might have a tough time running the table in the Mid-American. Dolphins cover.

Tennessee Titans -3 at Jacksonville Jaguars: I’m done picking against them until they give me a reason to. I’m done trying to outthink them. This obviously means they will lose this week. Titans cover.

Chicago Bears +5.5 at Green Bay Packers: I love when the Packers “Lambeau Mystique” gives them an absurd spread. Bears outright.

Philadelphia Eagles -9 at Cincinnati Bengals: Absolute must-win game for the Eagles considering Washington and Dallas’s game against each other this week. The Eagles have been pretty good at getting up for must-wins this year so I expect they’ll do it again here and throw a hurtin on a bad team. Eagles cover.

New Orleans Saints -4.5 at Kansas City Chiefs: I had the benefit of seeing Jeremy Shockey on the sidelines yelling at Drew Brees last week. Nope… don’t miss him. At full-strength, this is absolute must win for the Saints. If the team doesn’t fire this week, you can cancel their ticket to the playoffs. It might even be canceled already considering the relative strength of the NFC South and the six-team dogfight for the 2 NFC Wildcards. Saints cover.

Detroit Lions +14 at Panthers: Of course, I make a caveat and immediately it gets tested in two games in one week. I amazingly talked myself in to the Lions last week. I just can’t ever buy the Panthers in a blowout. Lions +14

Minnesota Vikings +4 at Tampa Bay Bucs: Bucs are home. Bucs are infinitely better than the Vikings. I feel like this isn’t even a question. Bucs cover.

St. Louis Rams +3.5 at San Francisco 49ers: A week following a massacre in the Meadowlands… you’d expect them to bounce back a little. I just think the Niners are a better bad team. Niners cover.

Arizona Cardinals -3.5 at Seattle Seahawks: Don’t really understand this spread, other than it’s a divisional game. Seattle is terrible, they’ve shown no ability to beat teams with even a modicum of talent, Seneca Wallace is still their quarterback, they have basically no defense, and their running game is terrible. I understand Arizona’s defense is kinda terrible but that only matters if the opposing offense can score. Cardinals cover.

San Diego Chargers +3.5 at Pittsburgh Steelers: Everyone keeps expecting the Chargers to fire and start piling up some wins. Until they actually win a big game, I find it difficult to take them in a big game. Steelers cover.

Dallas Cowboys +2.5 at Washington Redskins: Ah DC, where you have 100k seat stadium and all transplants. A few weeks ago, the Steelers practically had home field advantage at FedEx. Cowboys fans are even more vermin-like in their ability to invade visiting stadiums. All that said, the Cowboys are three years strong in not having an answer for Santana Moss. Even without Clinton Portis, I really like the ‘Skins chances of driving a stake in to the Cowboys’ collective hearts. Redskins cover.

Monday
Cleveland Browns +4.5 at Buffalo Bills: As much as Thursday night was a must win for the Jets, the Bills need to win this game if they have any prayer of preventing the Jets from taking this division going away. I think the Bills will get up for a national game at home. I don’t think they’re quite so bad as they’ve been playing and I think Brady Quinn’s got a few more speed bumps to get over. Bills cover.

Five Good Spreads

5 points – Falcons -5.5 over Broncos
4 points – Steelers -3.5 over Chargers
3 points – Redskins -2.5 over Cowboys
2 points – Bucs -4 over Vikings
1 point – Saints -4.5 over Chiefs

L/L – Broncos +3 over Browns, 34-30, Browns cover: This game was going to be a coin-toss in a lot of ways. I grabbed Ryan Torain off the FA wire to plug in for bye-week against the Browns’ terrible run defense and the Ms. L Superstars claimed their third ACL of the season after one-half of play on their way to their 3rd loss of the season. After a hot 6-0 start, the Superstars have dropped 3 of their last 4. Fortunately, this loss was to a last place team who had the benefit of Thomas Jones’s absurd 30 point day for the Jets. Fun little game for a Thursday night due to the horrific lack of defense on both teams. Points to the NFL Network for finally getting a competent play-by-play guy in Bob Papa. Papa’s been the Giants’ Radio guy for quite some time and Papa/Collinsworth might turn in to one of the better booths in the league after they work together a bit. Also, decent debut by Brady Quinn… played pretty well for the entire game. Terrible decision to end the game in trying to throw 2 yards for the first down when he had approximately 15 yards of open field and gigantic hole in front of him but putting up 30 in your debut is a pretty good sign.

L/L – Jags -6 over Lions, 38-14, Lions outright: Yeah, I guess I really didn’t believe it all that much, really. It sounded good at the time. For future reference – when you’re trying to talk yourself in to a crazy, game-gaining upset by convincing yourself Daunte Culpepper is going to breathe life in to a dying franchise, you know your picks season has taken an ugly turn.

L/L – Titans -3 over Bears, 21-14, Bears outright: See above and replace “Daunte Culpepper” with “Rex Grossman”.

L/L – Patriots -4.5 over Bills, 20-10, Bills outright: Bill Belicheck owns the souls of AFC East teams. He just does. We shouldn’t question it.

W/W – Falcons -1 over Saints, 34-20, Falcons cover: Enjoy Jeremy Shockey, guys… seriously.

W/W – Jets -8.5 over Rams, 47-3, Jets cover: Someone used “running up the score” on this game. Two things – 1) you can’t run up the score in an NFL game and 2) you REALLY can’t run up the score in the FIRST HALF of an NFL game. The Jets scored 40 in the first half. It was ugly. Huge game on Thursday to decide which of these two teams actually is way worse than everyone thinks they are.

W/W – Dolphins -9 over Seahawks, 21-19, Seahawks +9: Didn’t even see one highlight of this game, so I’ll assume it’s as ugly as I think it was.

W/L – Vikings -2 over Packers, 28-27, Vikings cover: Seriously… who takes a 2 point spread expecting a 1 point game? Anyone? I mean, anyone taking the Packers in this game expected them to win, right?

W/W – Panthers -8.5 over Raiders, 17-6, Panthers cover: The only surprise here is that the Panthers only scored 17… which doesn’t bode well for their “beating decent teams” chances. There in this club with the Broncos and the Saints — might be good, can’t beat anyone.

W/W – Chargers -14 over Chiefs, 20-19, Chiefs +14: Herm being herm, baby. Although, when you’re 1-8, why not gamble the game on a 2-pt conversion? You play to win the game, after all.

L/L – Colts +3 over Steelers, 24-20, Steelers cover: The Steelers manage to go from convincing me they’re good enough to be the AFC Super Bowl rep to being terrible on a weekly basis. This team bungled it’s way through the game, Roethlisberger threw 3 interceptions, and Peyton Manning picked the defense apart in ways that neither Eli Manning or Jason Campbell could even fathom. People are talking about Kurt Warner for league MVP? News for you, the Colts are a 1 win team right now without Peyton.

W/W – Giants +3 over Eagles, 36-31, Giants outright: This is the kind of thing the Flexible Schedule was designed for as this game was the heavyweight fight it was billed as. I’d also like to thank Andy Reid for being Andy Reid as he tried to use Brian Westbrook as Brandon Jacobs and essentially handed the game over to the Giants when everyone on the field, in the building, and watching at home knew he was going try and run Westbrook up the gut on 3rd and short and 4th and short. I’m not using the R word. I’m just not.

W/W – Ravens +2.5 over Texans, 41-13, Ravens outright: Another game I didn’t see any highlights of, but I’m also happy the Giants are going to grab this team at the tail end of a 3-week road trip.

W/L – Cards -10 over Niners, 29-24, Cards cover: Amazingly, took the mantle of “sloppiest game of the week” from the Browns/Broncos game, featuring something like 25 penalties. Fortunately for the Cardinals, Mike Singletary is apparently the only coach in the game worse at clock-management than Herm as he allowed 20 seconds to tick off the clock before having his quarterback spike the ball. Then, RAN the ball, barely allowing his team enough time for a second play from the goal line… and then ran the ball again with someone who wasn’t Frank Gore. Insane ending that must have killed at least 15 Niners’ fans.

Five Good Spreads

5 points – Chiefs +14 over Chargers – W
4 points – Panthers -8.5 over Raiders – W
3 points – Falcons -1 over Saints – W
2 points – Bears +3 over Titans – L
1 point – Giants +3 over Eagles – W

Standings

Straight Up: 9-5 (76-68)
Spread: 7-7 (69-72-3)
Point Pool: 13/15 (78/150 – .520)

One of my guilty pleasures for the last three years has been Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Giant Breasts The Ghost Whisperer. Every year, I amazed it gets renewed and every year I keep watching it. General plot overview — Melinda (Hewitt) can see and communicate with earthbound ghosts. Every week, she helps a violent ghost solve a problem so it can pass on to the afterlife by going in to “The Light.” One would think that you would eventually run out of ghosts with unfinished business in a sleepy town in Upstate New York but, hey, suspension of disbelief and all that.

Anyway, they finally pulled the trigger on a storyline that I was really hoping they were never going to do. Melinda has been married since before the first season. Her husband Jim has played supportive guy through the entire series, handily being an EMT with “friends” in the police department to get Melinda the occasional bit of info she needs to solve a case. Unfortunately for Jim there’s been a giant guillotine hanging over him since season one — the “gripping” storyline of his death so Melinda and he can have that heart-wrenching good-bye as he has to decide whether or not he should stay by Melinda’s side forever or whether he should cross over along with Melinda’s decision to have him stay beside her forever or to talk him in to crossing over. I really, desperately wanted them to stay away from this story since it was glaringly predictable and hugely depressing on a show that spends its time being hugely depressing and sad.

Two weeks ago, they teased his death in the previews and sadly followed through with a terribly forced death scene that saw him inadvertently shot by a police officer. He later died of injuries sustained while Melinda was sleeping at his bedside. His ghost woke her, trying to keep her attention away from his bedside where his body was laying dead. Next week begins the “shocking” storyline of Jim refusing to cross over and Melinda attempts to force him. I’m really, really disappointed that they decided to go in this direction. While Jim is an admittedly ancillary character (as is everyone who isn’t Hewitt), killing him off is really just a cheap storyline that has done more to kill off my interest in the show than the saddening development of JLH wearing less cleavage-baring tops.

Poorly done, Ghost Whisperer crew. Potential Shark-Jump moment.

I didn’t catch this show for the first few episodes. I finally remembered to tape it last weekend and busted through two episodes in a row. To note: I have not read the novel so some plot-points may be missed on me.

The Good

• Most of the good stuff is the interaction between Crusoe and Friday, the magical black man. Since I missed the impetus of their relationship, I’ll presume that it explains why Crusoe managed to find one particular black man on a deserted island in the 1600s who happens to speak English.
• As a positive to missing the first few episodes, I missed the whole “set up the treehouse and learn to survive on the island” part and jumped right in to the “mutineers land on the island to offer Crusoe a way to get himself off the island” storyline. I prefer this as I don’t need to see the first few episodes of Lost – The Black Rock Years.

The Bad

• I’m not sure who decided we were long overdue to create another Gilligan’s Island, where someone is smart enough to make everything he needed with just what was available on the island… except a boat.
• Maybe it’s too much Prison Break, but I’ve grown tired of the “things go wrong to delay the story and create artificial drama” story device. Crusoe and Friday happen across the shell of a boat. Inside the boat is a working compass which they desperately need if they ever want to build a boat and sail away — so they leave it on a ledge over a fireplace where an inadvertent nudge knocks it in to fire, melts the needle, and ruins it. But, ho, the mutineers are on the island and they have a compass so the heroes have to try and steal theirs! If you want to run a “steal the bad guys’ compass” story, just do it. Don’t preface it with nonsense carelessness that would never happen when you happen to find the most valuable thing you could possibly find in a particular situation.
• The mutineers are kind of a silly plot device. In the 2nd of the 2 episodes I recorded, Crusoe and Friday find the destroyed hull of a boat. They take it back to the treehouse and there was a fix-it montage. Now, I admittedly don’t know the finer points of repairing a boat hull, but it seems like something that would take a long time. During the entire montage the mutineers were in suspended animation and never continued looking for the two guys randomly attacking their camp… which is nice because they were probably making plenty of noise cutting down trees and burning fires at the treehouse.

The Rest

I wouldn’t say I hate it, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say I like it. The joking and play between Crusoe and Friday are fun and Crusoe’s dancing around the whole “If I take you back to England with me, everyone will think you are my slave” is awkward. There is a bit too much of the aforementioned “if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong” plot-device for me. The scenes from next week also don’t leave me hopeful — as they will introduce another group of people who happen to be on the island (the savages) who happen to have Friday’s father held captive. For a deserted island it has more traffic than the Lost island.

I’ll give it another few weeks, but I smell “13-episode run”.

When Inbev purchased Budweiser, I spent about two weeks making fun of the snobbiest of beer snobs I know and asked them if Bud had immediately become a better beer because it was now a fine Belgian import. Inbev, on the other hand, went on an immediate marketing spree to try and convince the good ol’ boys that this was still going to be the American Budweiser they’ve been sucking down at the races for the last 50 years. This culminated with the release of Budweiser “We Promise We’re Still” American Ale. It has been getting some love from some surprising sources and general consensus has been “it’s not that bad for a Budweiser product.” Full disclosure: as someone who was weaned on Genessee and spent 2/3rds of my college career drinking Beast before upgrading to Busch, the column title is more ironic then anything else.

Budweiser American Ale
Brewed By: Budweiser
Brewed In: America… We Promise
Type: American Ale
ABV: 5.1%

What They Say: Why is this beer distinctive from start to finish? Brewed with caramel, malted barley from America’s Heartland for a beautiful, rich amber color and sweet malt character. Dry-hopped with Cascade Hops from the Pacific Northwest for a noticeably citrus aroma. Thick, frothy head with a nice, dense lacing. Satisfying bold taste with a bright hoppy finish. Achieving the perfect balance of rounded malt and hop flavor. An ale that’s distinctly American in character. Savor the difference. They surprisingly fall short of printing My Country ‘Tis Of Thee on it.

Website: It’s a corporate website for a product marketed to young people, which means it’s got to be Flash with CRAZY animation. The beer itself has its own website with its own crazy Flash animation. The website offers no text. Just video. I loathe video. Let it be known that Budweiser and Inbev hate deaf people.

Why I Picked It: The aforementioned decent buzz followed by props from That Bootleg Guy. Speaking of whom: Cam, you and I need to arrange an across state lines exchange of… um… collectible Fat Tire glassware.

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Presentation (5): Since I’m assuming this is designed for people who generally aren’t beer snobs, I’ll say that the packaging is low-key and non-threatening. Everything is meant to take a backseat to the bald eagle and the AMERICAN ALE logos. Whether or not that will get someone whose been drinking Buds for the last 20 years to try something new, I don’t know. I know the packaging wouldn’t have drawn me in for anything other than curiosity, so we’ll call it a push… almost. 2

Originality (5): To their credit, it’s not Budweiser with a different label. It actually is some kind of original recipe. Whether they bought it from someone or it’s some other Inbev product with the Budweiser label is something only the Belgians know. The taste is different from other American Ales I’ve had but not tremendously different from any other ale. 3

Body (10): It’s much thinner than I expected. I don’t know why because it’s ale and ales are generally pretty thin. With the flavor, though, the thinness works in a way it wouldn’t in some other beers. I think it feels thinner than even a Bud Light because of the completely unobtrusive carbonation. If this makes sense, it’s pretty thin but still almost borders on syrupy. I don’t know how that’s possible, but it works. All told, pretty good. 6

Taste (10): It starts off hoppy, but not cloying so. Fortunately, Budweiser hasn’t decided that the way to a good beer is to make it taste like pine cones. The flavor changes a bit from start to finish and ends with a touch of bitterness to keep you thirsty. God Bless America. I don’t love how the aftertaste stays with you permanently, but your mileage may vary. 6

Efficiency (10): Completely poundable combined with a delicate, easy drinkability (ugh) and a low-cost. As is the case with American Ale, it’s designed to get the job done and it does. The only thing that could have given it a higher efficiency rating is Bud Ice’s 5.5 ABV. 8

Versatility (10): As is the hallmark of an American Ale, it’s designed to be quite consumable. A relatively low alcohol content to keep you from getting too drunk and a bit of bitterness to keep you thirsty. Weak enough to be used for keg stands and strong enough to catch a quick buzz. 10

Final Grade: 35 (of 50) – Really Good Beer. I’m as surprised as you are

I installed Google Analytics on this thing recently to get some idea of exactly how lightly read this blog is. It was more out of curiosity than anything else but, much to my surprise, Google Analytics gives you a listing of the search terms that people used in Google to get to your site. Tonight I discovered that this post from last year is the third hit when you search for “jetblue sucks”. I also discovered that the beer reviews bubble up through Google amazingly well. Last week’s Beer Snob on Pete’s Tavern was the third hit behind the actual Pete’s Tavern Geocities website and the societal scourge (and bastion of blog fodder as soon as I figure out how to format it) known as Yelp. Google started sending me traffic on that post about 3 hours after it went up and it’s referred a significant number of people here since… more than 6 times any other post.

This tells me 3 things – 1) I need to start looking for a new template that I don’t hate that actually has better “if you want to read more about beer, click here” links. 2) I’m never, ever, going to be able to change the url of this blog without hosing my Google ranking. 3) I really, really have to do a better editing job in case anyone of import ever comes here and wants to take me away from all this and bring me to the Big City to follow my dre…

Dammit.

Thursday
Denver Broncos +3 at Cleveland Browns: This game would have been an easy pick before the Browns folded to public pressure and decided to start Brady Quinn this week, moving this game off the “kind of a gimme” board and on to the “don’t put actual money on it if your life depends on it” board. I’m going to go out on a crazy limb here and assume that Derek Anderson’s 17/33 for 219 yards with 2 TDs and 1 INT was less the cause of the Browns’ last loss than Romeo’s dogged insistence on running Jamal Lewis off left guard in the fourth quarter for a total of 8 yards in four plays over two possessions. But I’m going to assume that the Browns are set up a little better for the short week being home then the Broncos are traveling and give the nod to the Browns… but holy crap do I not really believe it. Browns cover.

Sunday
Jacksonville Jaguars -6 at Detroit Lions: I’m tempted… very tempted… to take the Lions in this game. The Lions are still a bad team, don’t get me wrong, but Daunte Culpepper’s return to the league surrounded by an army of pretty decent receivers. The Lions are home, winless, and suddenly find themselves with a quarterback that, I think, a lot of the league has forgotten how good he is because he was stuck on the Raiders last year. The Lions have some hope. The Jags are reeling and on a second consecutive road game AND they play the divisional Titans next week. Callin it a Trap. Lions outright.

Tennessee Titans -3 at Chicago Bears: Before Rex Grossman took over for this team, I had this circled as one of the definitive losses on the Titans’ schedule. This was going to be the worst pass rushes that Kerry Collins had faced and I saw that movie in January of 2001. It isn’t pretty and involves 4 interceptions. On the other side, Rex Grossman is always a threat to throw 4 interceptions, too. I guess I’ll boil this down to home, Kerry Collins vs. a good defense, and the Bears linebackers keeping the Titans offense in check until The Dragon unleashes one downfield and the world discovers the Titans don’t play from behind very well. Bears outright.

Buffalo Bills +4.5 at New England Patriots: Buffalo is another team that hasn’t traveled particularly well this season, but New England hasn’t shown the ability to knock off even a moderately good team. I’m pretty sure the Bills cover this and also pretty sure they win it outright. I don’t know if I expect the Bills to contend with really good teams, but I think their offense is set up correctly to beat the Patriots ancient defense. Bills outright.

New Orleans Saints +1 at Atlanta Falcons: Other than London, the Saints have yet to win a road game this year. The Falcons have yet to lose a home game, including knocking off a pretty good Bears team. The Saints are still going to be down Reggie Bush and I don’t know if they have enough weapons without him. Falcons cover.

St. Louis Rams +8.5 at Jets: I can’t entertain the Rams with any fewer than 10 points, especially against a team, at home, who just scored first place in their division. Oddly, Favre seems to be trying to reign in his crazy “just chuck it” mentality just a little bit. Just doing that alone should prevent the Rams from doing anything crazy like… scoring. Jets cover.

Seattle Seahawks +9 at Miami Dolphins: I put Seattle and Denver in the same bucket, but 9 is too big for a Miami game — even WITH Seneca Wallace at QB. Seahawks +9.

Green Bay Packers +2 at Minnesota Vikings: I don’t have much for this game other than “go with the home team when you’re not sure.” Vikings cover.

Carolina Panthers -8.5 at Oakland Raiders: The Raiders’ offense only managed 77 yards against the Falcons for the entire game. Carolina hasn’t been traveling well but I have to assume they can abuse this team even though you can count on the Panthers less than a deadbeat gambler. Panthers cover.

Kansas City Chiefs +14 at San Diego Chargers: Mediocre team, double digit spread. Chiefs +14.

Indianapolis Colts +3 at Pittsburgh Steelers: After watching the Steelers rape the Redskins, who by all accounts are a pretty good team, for 60 minutes, I see no universe in which Willie Parker doesn’t run for 400 yards against the Colts defense and Peyton Manning doesn’t spend at least 20 plays eating Troy Pomualu’s hair. Steelers cover.

New York Giants +3 at Philadelphia Eagles: Ugh. Well. Unfortunately, Westbrook is playing. That’s a negative for the Giants. Fortunately, we’ve seen Donovan McNabb’s recent history in big games. I’m really torn here. If I pick the Giants in this game, I’m essentially picking them to run the table in the NFC East… because if they don’t lose to the Eagles on the road, how am I going to pick against them in Dallas, in Washington, or against any of those teams at home down the stretch? That said, I usually take the points in these games and I do think the Giants can contain Westbrook and I’m pretty sure their balanced attack will be too much for Philly to handle. Giants outright.

Baltimore Ravens +2.5 at Houston Texans: This is the make-up of the week 2 game that was hurricaned out. For Baltimore, it created a crappy stretch of 3 road games starting last week in Cleveland and ending next week in the Meadowlands. The Texans fooled everyone in to thinking they were more than a bad team on a 4-week homestand. I also don’t know that the Ravens can win a game like they won last week and then fold up against a bad team. Ravens outright.

Monday
San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals: There’s no reason this shouldn’t be the first awful Monday Night Football game to close out the year. Cards cover.

Five Good Spreads

5 points – Chiefs +14 over Chargers
4 points – Panthers -8.5 over Raiders
3 points – Falcons -1 over Saints
2 points – Bears +3 over Titans
1 point – Giants +3 over Eagles

I won’t pretend to be happy about the outcome. I wanted McCain to be the Republican candidate in 2000 and I wanted him to win the presidency this year. But, I’m tremendously proud that this country elected its first African-American President. While the college student turnout, and their relative obnoxiousness, rubs me the wrong way — it gives me great hope for the future of this country that less and less people think race means anything. My grandmother, a minority herself as a non-racist, 70-year-old Irish woman, said something to me when I was a little kid that always stuck with me: “Anyone who tells you someone can be judged by anything other than the content of their character is someone you shouldn’t listen to. People are just people.” She was different for her generation. I hope it’s the norm for this one.

Outcome aside, I was moved by his speech. I think you’d have to be a robot to be unaffected by 106-year-old voter’s story. My great-grandfather passed a few years ago at 101. I remember wondering about the things he’d seen after being born in 1899. This was another level entirely as the woman wasn’t allowed to vote. And if there’s one lasting image I’ll take from the speech, it was Biden, Obama, and their families standing on the stage together. I hope the image of the country’s highest two officials in a multiracial man-hug is a symbol that helps heal some of the nation’s 150-year-old scars. Oddly, the second image I’ll take is the image of Oprah Winfrey, standing in the crowd of commoners with a disbelieving look. Even Oprah, an American success story from anyone’s perspective, didn’t believe the United States could do this. I hope the multiracial man-hug is the cover image of a new chapter in American history. Maybe the US did choose the right person at the right time.

Regardless of any sarcastic posts that may or may appear in this space in the next four years, for this one, single moment… I’m happy for Barack Obama and proud of the country. I’m happy for all the people who feel this represents a new era in the United States. And I hope that all the things he promises — a better United States, unity, compromise, an openness in government, and better lives for everyone — happens. Selfishly, I hope this kicks off a huge shift of power in the Republican party to remove the religious maniacs and conservatives in their own little holes.

I’ll end this before cynicism and sarcasm starts to creep in to what I want to be positive congratulatory post. I still believe there are too many people who believe government is the solution, not the problem and Obama’s government wants to be the solution. The hero worship in the eyes of many people shown during his acceptance speech seem to indicate they’re in agreement. I find that terrifying. But, for now, congratulations President-Elect Obama. You earned it. And congratulations America for probably doing the right thing to heal the divisive wounds in this country. At the very least, I’ve been waiting for a Gen-Xer to be in charge, and now one is. Maybe it is, in fact, our time.

And to the Secret Service and God if you’re up there — for the love of all that is good and holy — protect this man.

That Bootleg Guy let me know that I’m running one behind the cute office secretary who picks teams based on their snazzy uniforms. I’d be upset, but I’m pretty sure I’m running five behind my friend’s pre-school nephew and a dozen behind my cat. So… who feels dumb now, Mr. Condescendingface?

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W/W – Vikings -4. over Texans, 28-21, Vikings cover: I didn’t see any of this game… I’ll just presume it was what I thought it was.

L/L – Bengals -7.5 over Jaguars, 21-19, Jags cover: The Jags are done. D-U-N done.

W/L – Bucs -8 over Chiefs, 30-27, Chiefs cover: Didn’t really see much of this game, only saw that the Chiefs jumped out to an early 14 point lead and squandered it in to a loss. That’s what happens to bad teams.

L/L – Ravens +1 over Browns, 37-27, Browns cover: Great comeback. Not much else you can say. Huge defensive stand by the Ravens defense and they’re signing up to be the other team in the AFC title game.

L/W – Jets +5.5 over Bills, 26-17, Jets +5.5: I’ll be honest… I didn’t think the Jets were as good as they’re playing. I still think Brett Favre’s going to break their hearts at an inopportune time.

W/W – Cardinals -3 over Rams, 34-13, Cards outright: About what we figured. Also — gotta love ESPN… Kurt Warner crushes a terrible team and they start talking league MVP. Nothing says “league MVP” like first place in a division where the 2nd place team is 2-6.

W/L – Bears -12.5 over Lions, 27-23, Bears cover: No surprises here… only that the Bears didn’t win by more.

W/L – Titans -5 over Packers, 19-16, Titans cover: Someone pointed out yesterday the outside chance of getting to Thanksgiving and having the Lions at 0-11 and the Titans at 11-0 for their game. I don’t know why I find this incredibly amusing, but I want it to happen now. Also, kudos to the NFL for the third straight year of having a game on Thanksgiving that I won’t see at my parents house. Well done, guys.

L/L – Dolphins +3.5 over Broncos, 26-17, Denver covers: Denver is, as they say, done. Fork and all.

W/W – Falcons -3 over Raiders, 24-0, Falcons cover: Well done, Al.

W/W – Giants -7.5 over Cowboys, 35-14, Giants cover: This game wasn’t even as close as the final score since 7 of the Cowboy points came off a Pick-6. Nothing makes me happier.

W/W – Eagles -7 over Seahawks, 26-7, Eagles cover: The Eagles/Giants game next weekend is going to epic.

L/W – Colts -5 over Patriots, 18-15, Patriots outright: This was the first of two really boring prime time games. Grinding, 15-play drives can be fun to watch if it’s your team… it’s really boring when it’s not your team… and it’s double boring when two teams exchange those drives for 60 minutes.

L/L – Steelers +2.5 at Redskins, 23-6, Redskins cover: OK, NOW I get the whole “Steelers are a Super Bowl team” thing. That defense looked unfrigginstoppable in DC last night and locked up the win for Obama. I’d also like to send a big “eff you” to both teams since I needed Nate Washington and Santana Moss to COMBINE for 10 points and they couldn’t get it done.

Five Good Spreads
5 points – Giants -7.5 over Cowboys – W
4 points – Redskins -2.5 over Steelers – L
3 points – Eagles -7 over Seahawks – W
2 points – Cards -3 over Rams – W
1 point – Falcons -3 over Raiders – W

Standings

Straight Up: 8-6 (67-63)
Spread: 7-7 (62-65-3)
Point Pool: 11/15 (65/135 – .481)

As always, salary info courtesy of the awesome Cot’s Baseball Contracts and stats courtesy of the awesomer Baseball Reference.

1B – Carlos Delgado: 2008 salary – $16M. 2009 salary – $12M club option, $4M buyout. As of this writing, Carlos Delgado’s option has been executed, effectively removing them from the Mark Teixeira Absurdly-Inflated-Contract Extravaganza. I’m happy about that. Some of the contract ideas floating around for Mark Teixeira (some of which dwarf Albert Pujol’s deal) are just insane. I know that most in the mainstream media won’t make the contention that Delgado was pulling a Sheffield until Wiile got axed, but I’m also saying his general surliness and inability to get the ball out of the infield was closely tied to Willie’s embarassing exit. Regardless, you’re not replacing 38 HR and a .871 OPS for less than $12M and he can keep the seat warm for a couple of the Mets’ prospects who are still finding their footing in Binghamton. At the worst, a $12M contract isn’t untradable if someone trading bullpen relief needs a 1B/DH.

2B – Luis Castillo: 2008 salary – $6M, 2009 salary – $6M, $18M guaranteed through 2011. I find it necessary to again fully disclose that I’ve defended this contract signing on more than one occasion. I understand the guy has nothing more than top of the infield power… I also understand that he’s normally a single/walk machine with a bit of speed. I’ve formed the opinion over the last couple of years that OPS can tend to overrate slugging a bit. I think I’d rather have a guy with a .400 OBP and a .200 SLG than a .200 OBP and a .400 SLG… I don’t know. Regardless, the Mets only other option at the moment is to hope that Daniel Murphy, last year’s call-up savant, can learn a serviceable 2B in the Arizona Fall League and doesn’t fall in to a horrible slump next season. The Mets are probably going to flirt with Orlando Hudson for a while this offseason and, if they can’t sign Manny Ramierz, will probably offer him a deal.

3B – David Wright: 2008 salary – $5M. 2009 salary – $7.5M. Ah David Wright… the man whose launched 1,000 debates. Wright is a type of player that’s become common in the last few years. He’s a fantasy darling… he puts up 120 RBI and 30 HR every year but has been relatively horrible at collecting hits late in games. Only about 26% of his career hits and 21% of his career RBI have come in innings 7-9. Yes, I understand all the counter-arguments — hits at the beginning of the game are just as important as hits at the end of the game… RISP/On-Base stats are small sample sizes… I get it. There’s not a thing you could look at in David Wright’s stat-line and peg him as a sub-standard player. Wright does, however, have a terrible, terrible time collecting timely hits. All THAT said, Wright takes a lot of unfair heat because of the shortstop across town who single-handedly won a World Series his first full year in the league. That doesn’t happen to everyone and Met fans shouldn’t expect it to.

SS – Jose Reyes: 2008 salary – $4M. 2009 salary – $5.75M. Met fans have to understand that Jose Reyes is the over-celebrating douche that you hated in some league you played in at some point in your life. A guy bouncing around the bases, dancing, and being obnoxious is going to raise everyone’s ire. This Mets’ team has to realize that if this guy is going to be annoying that every single team in the NL East is going to get up to play them. If you’re good (like the Yankees, historically) you can deal with this. If you’re mediocre, you’re going to get your ass-kicked. The Marlins, two years in a row, came to Shea with nothing to play for and knocked the Mets out of the playoffs. A lot of this is because the Mets have a guy who everyone hates. This is why the 2006 Cardinals did a Jooooseeeee chant in the clubhouse after knocking the Mets out of the NLCS. This is why the Phillies made fun Victorino for celebrating around the basepath with “Calm Down, Jose” and taped “Jose Reyes” on his locker. If you want to be dicks, that’s fine… just understand that you need to play at 125% every night and no one is going to give you an easy time of it. With that rant done, Reyes isn’t going anywhere nor should he.

The Mets’ infield is really the least of their problems. One of the more interesting positions on Thursday… left field.