In the future, I need to be careful not to pick up a book by and for sociologists (I still love you Mr. and Ms. The Big Show) when what I want is a history book.

This is one of the few books that I actually gave up on. If you’re the type of baseball fan that finds baseball books by statisticians to be snooty and superior, you’d be blown away by the general snootiness and superiority of the author. Keep in mind, I like stat books and I thought the author was snooty. There were two and a half interesting chapters. The Jackie Robinson chapter spoke to how the other players and the borough accepted Robinson and how management dealt with those who didn’t (Hint: lots of trades with the Cardinals). The second explored the Dodgers’ and the women of Brooklyn. Surprisingly, it wasn’t about young Dodger players mowing through the daughters of Brooklyn. It more dealt with Walter O’Malley and Branch Rickey being amongst the first owners in baseball to reach out to women in the surrounding neighborhood to fill empty seats during day games. They were the first owners in baseball to realize the income potential in women’s afternoon free time and how they went about overcoming stereotypes about women who hung out at ballparks. The half chapter of interest was about the reserve clause. It included the “indentured servitude” speech that accompanies all stories about the reserve clause, but also outlined how the “overgrown boys playing a game” stereotype came about. It was something the owners actively spread through the papers to keep player salaries down. “Why should we pay these guys a lot of money when they’re just boys playing a game?” I’d never thought of that before.

Unfortunately, there were other chapters. Specifically, the parts talking about the macho male culture of Brooklyn and bars as they relate to baseball fans. Much like the “this is a lot of paper to tell me we need clean water” Sprint firefighter commercial, Prince spent an awful lot of paper to tell me that guys who didn’t have TV went to bars to watch or listen to baseball games, sometimes would get in to fights with fans of the other New York teams, and that baseball teams do a lot of posturing toward each other to throw opponents off their game. I just summed up four chapters in two sentences.

I did, however, take two things away that I look forward to seeing more of in future books. First, had the Dodger’s never left Brooklyn, their fans would be as annoying as Red Sox fans. Boston has this provincial “if you weren’t born here three generations ago and you don’t like the Sox, you’re not worth anything.” Brooklyn natives are like this, too, AND have accents that grate on outsiders. Second, the hatred between Dodger fans and Yankee fans would be on the order of the hatred between the White Sox and the Cubs. It would represent everything from borough pride to income levels — white collar vs. blue collar and everything in between. Extending that, the idea of having two teams in the same division in the same city is mind-blowingly awesome. If the Dodgers and Yankees hated each other and they only met maybe once a year, then the Dodgers/Giants rivalry, while getting much less press, must have been great. I can’t even imagine the extra bile and hatred that would exist between Brooklyn and Manhattan if they had a sports feud with each other. I know the Dodgers and Giants carried their rivalry all the way out to the west coast… what it must have been like when they were separated by 13 miles instead of 400 must have been something to behold.

I need to find books on the Dodgers not like this one. Strongest recommendation to avoid.

—

Indianapolis Colts -3 at Houston Texans: The Colts are favored because of reputation, nothing else. Steve Slaton is going to rush for somewhere between 100 and 7,000 yards and 9 touchdowns. Texans outright.

Tennessee Titans -3 at Baltimore Ravens: The battle of undefeated teams. Also, the battle of teams that I never, ever choose correctly. Here, I also have no idea, so I’ll go with the home team. Ravens outright.

San Diego Chargers -7 at Miami Dolphins: This game would probably be +10 if not for the Dolphins stunning performance against the Patriots last week. If the Dolphins weren’t home, I wouldn’t even consider taking the Dolphins here, but a large spread coming off a huge win and a fired up crowd. I think this game is going to be a lot closer than people think. Dolphins +7

Kansas City Chiefs +10 at Carolina Panthers: If the Chiefs are getting 10 after actually winning last week, what would this spread have been if they lost? That said, the Panthers are home and the Chiefs defense is not holding down Steve Smith. On the other hand, I give Julius Peppers the nod at holding LJ down until the Chiefs have to go to their disastrous passing game. Panthers cover.

Washington Redskins +6 at Philadelphia Eagles: Not only would I take the Redskins here just because it’s more than my 3 point NFC East rule, but I’m not quite so sure that the Redskins aren’t going to win this outright. The Eagles plan to have Westbrook back but Donovan McNabb is still proving that he has some fourth quarter performance anxiety. If the Eagles had no answer for Romo/TO/Barber, I’m not sure why anyone is convinced they have an answer for Campbell/Moss/Portis. Redskins +6.

Chicago Bears -3 at Detroit Lions: At least the chance to improve is in sight, Lions’ fans. Bears cover.

Atlanta Falcons +10 at Green Bay Packers: Just last week I said that I wasn’t going to pick the Falcons on the road. But, then again, the Packers have seemed exceptional at home. Packers cover.

Seattle Seahawks at New York Giants: The Giants are historically awful after a bye week. They don’t have their best receiver which means it’s going to be relatively difficult for them to put a team away. If the Giants win this by a touchdown, I’ll be surprised. Seahawks +9

Tampa Bay Bucs at Denver Broncos: Tampa is obviously better than I thought. Denver is not. Bucs outright.

New England Patriots -3.5 at San Francisco 49ers: Belicheck had a reputation for destroying his teams off losses. If the lackluster defense the Patriots brought against the Dolphins is any indication, the Patriots are going to be in rare form this week. If they’re not, we might have to re-address the Patriots as a “good” team and remember that they’re a defense built to play with a lead brought by a great passing offense…. who has neither a good passer or a decent runner to fall back on. Patriots cover.

Buffalo Bills +1.5 at Arizona Cardinals: The Cardinals are favored here for 3 reasons. 1) The aggregate record of NFL teams after giving up 50 points the week before is like 1,000-2. 2) The Cards have been really good at home this year. 3) It’s a huge game for the Cardinals. If they don’t respond to a whuppin’ they won’t respond. The Bills have been blessed the last couple of weeks and the karma has to run out at some point. Cardinals cover.

Cincinnati Bengals +14 at Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys will come out and blow the doors off a bad team and the national media will all start fellating them again. We’ll immediately forget that they have no defense to speak of and that the Bengals are playing either a gimpy QB or a back-up QB. All will be right with the world again. Then just wait until they destroy the Rams last week. They’ll be the best team in the universe!! Cowboys cover.

Pittsburgh Steelers +3 at Jacksonville Jaguars: The Jags, at some point, snuck over the line to “good team” from “underachieving team” when no one was paying attention. The Steelers seem to be just struggling by. The Steelers blitz will probably be neutered by Fred Taylor. Jags cover.

Monday
Minnesota Vikings +3.5 at New Orleans Saints: Spreads on the Vikings are going to be very odd this year because Adrian Peterson is one of those guys who can pop-off for a 300 yard night on any given Sunday. But… with Deuce back I think the Saints are going to be very difficult to beat. Also, this is the third consecutive week that the Monday night game has featured huge fantasy football guys. Saints cover.

Five Good Spreads

5 - Washington +6 over Philly
4 - Panthers -10 over Chiefs
3 - Bears -3 over Detroit
2 - Seahawks +9 over Giants
1 - Cowboys -14 over Bengals

Moo Thunder Stout
Brewed By: Butternuts Beer & Ale
Brewed In: Garrattsville, NY
Type: Stout
ABV: 5.0%

What They Say: This stout beer pays tribute to the Butternuts Brewery’s former life as a dairy farm, thus the sexy cow on the can. It’s a lighter, more drinkable version of the Stout breed than its heavy, boorish and smelly European sisters. Not too strong, not too viscous (oooh…viscous…creepy). Unlike a true bovine it has a malty, roasty aroma and a dry finish but no tail or teats, and leaves no unsightly cow pies laying around the yard for you to step in.

Website: Butternuts brewery has one of those supremely annoying sites that think it’s cute to have animation and music on a flash app. Two no-nos here. 1) Your website should never auto-play music by default because people visit websites at work. 2) Never have links that move. Their news link is a blimp that floats across the top of the screen. You have to click on the moving blimp to get news. There’s a reason the marquee tag fell out of favor: because it was stupid. It took me forever to find their location on their website and I eventually only found it because I went to their MySpace page.

Why I Picked It: I had heard good things about the Porkslap Pale Ale and was in the mood for a stout for football. It was on the shelf at Whole Foods so I went with it.

—

Presentation (5): Butternuts uses cans, silly names, and cartoon animals to differentiate themselves from other microbreweries. The can thing probably isn’t a bad idea since there are only so many ways to package up beer into brown, glass bottles. The can will certainly get a person to at least pick up the six-pack to see what they’re doing. The cartoon characters will also hook young drinkers. Joe Camel approves. 5.

Originality (5): Like I mentioned earlier, the can is an original presentation in the world of microbrews. Odd how that works. In most circles, folks look down their noses at the macrobrewed, canned beers. Put a microbrew in one and it suddenly becomes original. Funny how that works. That said, there’s nothing to differentiate this stout from any other stout. 3.

Body (10): The claim on the can that it’s a less viscous Guinness is about the best way to describe it. It’s a light stout, if you can picture that. It has every bit the flavor of a stout without making you feel like you’ve eaten a full loaf of bread after three. I guess you can call it a Diet Stout.10.

Taste (10): Standard, run of the mill stout. There are no fancy flavors here to differentiate it from, say Guinness or Bare Knuckle. The only thing I can find to remind myself of a diary farm is the cow on the can. But, to note, I’m a big fan of stouts so I like the taste of this. 7

Efficiency (10): I drank six of these watching football over about four hours and really didn’t notice a difference between beer one and beer six. If you’re drinking to drink something, this is probably good for you. If you’re drinking to watch your team lose a football game, find something 1) stronger or 2) you can either drink faster. 4

Versatility (10): The ABV% and the relative low loafofbreadedness in this beer makes it useful for lots of different things. If you didn’t mind drinking a stout quickly, you could use it for a Beirut-beer. The relatively low alcohol content and tastiness makes it a good poker night beer. Possibly the highest versatility for a non-macrobrew in history. 8

Final Grade: 37 (of 50) - really good beer.

I think I may have gotten it out of the way much earlier this year.

L/L - Chiefs +9.5 over Broncos, 33-19, Broncos cover: As I was filling my picks in to Sportsline on Friday, I specifically looked at this game and thought “man, this is the definition of a bad bet.” You had, likely, 80% of the money on the Broncos, a team that was obviously going to give a chirpy LJ the ball a lot against a team that really hasn’t proven it has a run defense, and a quarterback with inflated stats going on the road. Then I picked the Broncos anyway. Stupid.

L/L - Browns +3.5 over Bengals, 20-12, Bengals cover: The Bengals played the game of their lives against the Giants and lost. Cleveland was going to play the game of their lives against a team that had already played the game of their lives. Stupid again.

W/L - Jaguars -7 over Texans, 30-27, Jags cover: I didn’t expect to win this, so I’m fine with it.

W/W - Jets -3 over Cardinals, 56-35, Jets cover: Strap in, Favre-haters. The Favrelatio will be stunning this week. On the bright side, one former Shea Stadium tenant decided to send the old girl out with honor.

W/W - Saints -7 over Niners, 31-17, Saints cover: The Pierre Thomas pick-up for the Ms. L Superstars did not go as planned with his 1 run for 1 yard. However, We still won thanks to Jason Campbell and Santana Moss.

W/W - Panthers -7 over Falcons, 24-9, Panthers cover: Pick the Falcons at home. Pick against them on the road. Got it.

L/L - Titans -3.5 over Vikings, 30-17, Vikings outright: OK, I give up. The Vikings are apparently horrifically overrated and the Titans are going to the Super Bowl. I don’t get it.

L/L - Bucs -3 over Packers, 30-21, Packers outright: Apparently it’s time to stop picking against the Bucs, too.

W/W - Bills -9 over Rams, 31-14, Bills cover: pick against them until they cover.

W/W - Chargers -7 over Raiders, 28-18, Chargers cover: You know, I can understand that franchises can go through rough patches — but at least lose the game early. Is there any reason that the Raiders have to torture their fans like the Mets do?

L/W - Redskins +11 over Cowboys, 26-24, Redskins +11: Couple of things good for the Giants here. 1) The Cowboys are not nearly as indestructible as they’ve looked — their pass coverage, while serviceable, has no answer for a speedy receiver like Santana Moss. 2) This is the second straight game that featured a top ten back that the Cowboys couldn’t stop. Brian Westbrook broke through for 58 yards and 2 touchdowns in Week 2. Clinton Portis went for 131 yards last night. Romo also threw a backbreaking interception. In a shocking bit of deliciousness that surprised no one, TO decided to tell the media that he’s not getting enough looks. I’d like to thank Chris Collinsworth for pointing out that, in fact, 1/3rd of the Cowboys offensive plays went to Owens which he converted into 7 catches. In fairness, TO hasn’t turned on a quarterback in a full two years. He is due. On top of that, Tank Johnson was whining that the Redskins overcelebrated on the Star. Dear Lord, please let this team complete and totally melt down.

L/L - Bears +3 over Eagles, 24-20, Eagles Cover: In a bittersweet moment, I lost this pick but the Correl Buckhalter pick-up did help the Ms. L Superstars go to 4-0 on the season. The rogue GM from Copier Company X is running wild over the Large Accounting Firm. After watching this game, it occurred to me why Donovan McNabb is continually overrated. He just can’t get it done in the 2nd half.

L/W - Steelers cover: I watched this game. Ben Roethlisberger has just lost something. I don’t know what it is. He seems completely uninterested in playing football. Maybe it’s the plastering he took last week… I don’t know. I’m not buying the Steelers anymore on any spreads over 3 points. Unless it’s the Rams. I still the Giants got the best pick in that draft.

The Five Good Spreads
5 points: Bills -9 over Rams - W
4 points: Chargers -7 over Raiders - W
3 points: Packers +3 over Bucs - L
2 points: Saints -7 over Niners - W
1 point: Broncos -9.5 over Chiefs - L

As I suddenly remember why I stopped doing pick 5s.

Standings
Straight Up: 6-7 (32-28)
Spread: 7-6 (29-30-1)
Point Pool: 11/15 (28/60 - .467)

The book follows Wulfgar to Luskan — a port city full of scum and villany — and his ongoing bout with post-traumatic stress following his six years of torture in hell. He soon finds out that alcohol is a pretty good way to force yourself to live in the moment and forget the past and, as such, finds himself as a bouncer in a local tavern in a seedy part of town working for room, board, and wine.

In an odd sort of way, I think this might be one of the better books since the original set. Salvatore really manages to address an issue pretty relevant in the present day in a fantasy setting. We get a picture of a character we’ve come to care about over the last decade destroyed mentally. The years and torture has caught up with him and all he wants to do is forget, but he can’t. This leads him down a pretty dark path. He becomes an alcoholic and denies his past as a hero. He finds himself in league with shady characters and walking down a path of criminality before hitting rock bottom and beginning to work back to what he was. It’s a story that probably anyone whose battled an addiction could relate to — albeit dramatized and placed in a fantasy setting.

If I had a complaint about the book is that it’s split in to two separate and distinct stories. Chapters alternate between Wulfgar’s story in Luskan and his new friendship with fellow shady Luskanite Morik the Rogue and the introduction of a set of new characters that I found myself struggling to care about. In the midst of this great story about downfall and redemption, I have to keep taking pointless interludes to a story about teenage love and the unfairness of duty. Secondly, once these new characters were introduced and I figured out where the story was going, there was only one of two ways the story was going to end. The characters were obviously inserted for the author to give Wulfgar something heroic to do, but I didn’t need 150 pages of paper-thin, chick-lit “who you should love” vs. “who you do love” plot that’s been beaten to death in movies and books for 100 years. I’ve seen the “young peasant girl loves young peasant boy but is betrothed to the Lord” storyline a million times. The author could have done better.

Never have I seen an author’s best and worst been in the same book, at the same time, sharing the same storyline. The only reason the peasant girl plot didn’t make the rest of the book unreadable was because the Wulfgar stuff was SO good. Salvatore does a great job of putting you in Wulfgar’s head and following his downfall from hero to guy who is almost happy when he thinks he’s about to be put to death. The description of him at the Prisoner’s Carnival after he’s been tried and sentenced to death for something he didn’t do is relatively amazing. He knows he’s going to be tortured to death by these people for the entertainment and he’s almost relieved. First, because no torture they can inflict on his mortal body will be remotely as bad as what he’s already been through. Second, when they’re finished torturing him he will be dead and that will be the end of it. It’s a stunning look inside a completely broken person.

So, if it’s possible to give the strongest recommendation for the book and the strongest recommendation to avoid every other chapter and have it average out to a semi-recommendation to avoid every other chapter like it was on fire, this is it.

- Thank God Omar shipped off Chad Bradford and signed Scott Schoenweiss. A guy with a 208 ERA+ would have been just worthless this year.

- I really hope Daniel “Mancrush” Murphy learns 2B in the fall league this year and takes Castillo’s spot in the line up next year.

- Speaking of which, I’m thrilled that Omar got a 4-year extension for putting this bullpen on the field two years in a row and giving Castillo a four-year deal when he apparently had at least two decent options at 2b and one who is willing to learn 2B. Well done.

- Rumor has it Scott Boras just bought an island. It’s Australia. I have to presume he gets a blank sheet of paper from Mets management re: K-Rod.

- Jerry Manuel did a great job with what he was given and I hope to see him in uniform for Citi Field next year.

- Aaron Heilman will be a very good 3-starter for someone next year. Depending on how Murphy fares learning 2B in the offseason, I expect Heilman, Luis Castillo, and someone else to be packaged up for…. something.

- It’s a good thing we had Mike Pelfrey available in the bullpen and decided to trot out the guys who’ve done nothing but blow games all year. That was excellent.

- For a team that’s been “resilient” all year, they went very quietly against a pitcher who said to the media that he relished watching the fans cry last year when. In fact, the entire team was very vocal about how this was their playoff and how they couldn’t wait to end the Mets’ season. Way to defend the turf, guys.

- “Resilient” isn’t a great thing to be when you end your season on a loss.

- Speaking of “defending the turf”, I didn’t watch a second of the Shea’s closing ceremony, but it must have been the most depressing thing in the history of New York City. At least the Yankees understood the importance of closing their stadium with a win.

- It is something of a fitting end for this field that it ends on choke-job. I mean, it’s become something of a New York tradition going all the way back to Brooklyn and the Polo Grounds.

- Oddly, I think the new stadium couldn’t come at a better time. 1986 sucked every ounce of karma and luck out of Shea. Be it walking in NLCS-ending run in 1999, Mike Piazza crushing a 404 foot out in 2000, Yadier Molina in 2006, the epic choke last year, or the semi-epic choke this year — a change of scenery can’t possibly hurt.

- They’ll be some kind of post-mortem next week. I need to go a few days without baseball.

- Rooting hierarchy for the post-season is Brewers, Dodgers, Cubs, Rays.

9IP, 117 pitches, 3H, 3BB, CG, SHO, 9K. Three days rest. W.

7.2 IP, 115 pitches, 1H, 2BB, 0R, 14K. John Maine on the penultimate day of last season. About 24 hours before evil spy Tom Glavine ended the Mets season before he recorded an out.

There’s a certain tightness you get in your chest and stomach when you’re watching a baseball game that matters. Every pitch is a chance for disaster. Johan Santana gave up a double in the top of the ninth with one out. If you’re not a baseball fan, you don’t understand watching every single pitch and thinking of the possibility of disaster. Every strike is a moment of relief. Every ball is more tension. At the end of the game, you’re exhausted and ready to puke from the clenching and unclenching of your insides.

The Mets put in their big money pitcher. $25 million per year for the next seven years. He asked for the ball on 3 days rest. Took it after throwing a career-high 125 pitches. And threw another 117 pitches to let everyone know that he was worth every dime. He kept a team that really has no business being in the race in the race. He got 2 runs and took the team home. 3 hits. He gave the Shea crowd something to cheer over. For the first time this week, the Shea crowd had the same kind of buzz it had in 2006. The energy was there. It was awesome to see.

The day wasn’t over. After the Mets game, we moved on to the Fox national broadcast. Someone had decided that Fox should claim Yanks/Sox, Cubs/Brewers, Phillies/Nationals, and Twins/Royals. Three of these belong together. Fortunately, the Yankees/Red Sox game was being rained out, so they aired Cubs/Brewers. By the time the Met game ended, Ben Sheets had given up 2 runs. By the fourth, Ted Lilly was teasing a no-hitter and giving the Cubs something to play for. In the eighth, the Brewers took advantage of some suspect defense to get the game to 4-3. Bases loaded, two-out, and the stress was back. There are very few times where you feel the same terrible stress for a team that isn’t yours. In the top of the ninth, that glorious import Kosuke Fukudome crushed the Brewers spirit with a 2-run home run. Brewers lost, and a 162-game season comes down to one day.

So here we are again. The script thus far has been exactly the same. Embarrassing Friday. Clutch, franchise-energizing pitching performance on Saturday. And now we’re down to Sunday.

0.1 IP, 36 pitches, 5H, 2BB, 0K, 7ER — Tom Glavine last year.

That was last year. This year, here is what I have to think about.

6IP, 88 pitches, 4H, 2BB, 4K, 1R — Oliver Perez - Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS.

6IP, 112 pitches, 10H, 2BB, 6K, 4ER — CC Sabathia: Game 5 of the 2007 ALCS.

Ollie’s held the Marlins to a 2.03 ERA this season over 5 starts. He’s shown an odd ability to keep his cool in big games even though he occasionally blows up against the Pirates in the middle of June. The last game at Shea could clinch a Wild Card.

Wouldn’t that be a great way to go out?

Maybe not gone, but on life support. The Mets managed to be the only one to drop their game while the Phillies and Brewers both won. The Phillies put the final nail in the Mets’ division hopes while the Brewers, at the very least, got the nail and hammer out of the toolbox.

And, what else can I say? Shea Stadium was embarrassingly empty for what the game meant. Maybe 15,000 or 20,000 used their tickets tonight under the threat of weather and bad baseball. They played a playoff game in front of a stadium half-full of people who couldn’t be bothered to cheer for most of the game. Meanwhile, the Brewers and Phillies played in front of raucous, full houses.

And they both won. Go figure.

There are two things that I never, ever want to hear a Met fan talk about again. First, not a Met fan on the planet should ever even consider questioning the fandom of the Yankees. You can say all you want about the Yankee fanbase — call them spoiled, call them asses, say whatever you want. There is one inarguable fact. If Friday night’s game was going on in the Bronx and the Yankees were playing an eliminated Blue Jays team back one from the Red Sox and tied with the Twins for the wildcard, the Stadium would be packed. It would be full of people and buzzing and rocking and rolling. Every two-strike count would be cheered and everything that remotely resembled a rally would have the fans on their feet. The Yankees might lose, but 53,000 strong would be there and in to every second of the game.

Second, the Met fan is never again allowed to bust on the Braves for their inability to fill Turner Field in playoffs. The Met fan could constantly throw it in the Braves face that their fans were spoiled and bad fans because they couldn’t fill their stadium in the post-season. “We’d always be there for big games” they’d say. That’s over, too. As it turns out — no, we wouldn’t.

The game played last night may as well have been at Dolphins’ Stadium. That’s how dead Shea Stadium was. About 15,000 made it, and good for them, but the people who didn’t go because of some excuse — be it weather, fear of losing, whatever — should be banned from ever going to another sporting event ever again. Last night, rain washed away the corporate jackasses and fringe fans that make up a healthy portion of Shea Stadium. Tonight, the mere threat of rain did it. Welcome to the new era of New York sports — tickets so expensive that most real fans can’t go and home field advantage is a joke. To the real fans out there, I’d tell them to enjoy the 2006 NLCS. It’s the last time Shea was full with actual die-hard Met fans. To Giants fans — we got one last Super Bowl run before the Maras and Tisches get their new, sanitized, corporate stadium like the Colts got. Enjoy it. It was almost to the point where, watching the end of the Brewers game, I almost wanted them to get in. At least the people in Milwaukee care.

Costas didn’t need a special — he just needed to show a clip of the 2006 NLCS and a clip of last night. That’s the cost of pricing out fans.

In case you’re wondering, here’s what happens tomorrow. By the time the drunken college kids on the west coast wake up — the Mets will have won their game, the Brewers will have lost to the Cubs, and the Mets will draw out this season of exquisite torture until the last day of the regular season. On that day, on the final day of Shea Stadium, Oliver Perez on short rest will play the role of Tom Glavine.

Whether or not they change the script along with the recast remains to be seen. Let’s hope.

Denver Broncos -9.5 at Kansas City Chiefs: At this point, you pretty much have to pick every team to cover the Chiefs until someone doesn’t, right? Broncos cover.

Cleveland Browns +3.5 at Cincinnati Bengals: The Bengals just took a much better than the Browns Giants’ team to the limit. You would think that Derek Anderson would take this game and elevate himself to another level to keep his job. I don’t think he’s got it. I expect Anderson to go quietly in to the good night and Brady Quinn gets the nod in Week 4. Bengals cover.

Houston Texans +9 at Jacksonville Jaguars: Ugh. The Texans are a “I got no idea” at this point. This is their third straight road game and their home town is in pieces. They may or may not be playing in their home stadium next week. This could mean they’ve already packed it in for the year or it could mean they want to come out and prove something. A third straight road game is never easy. A third straight road game with drama seems almost impossible. The Jags should have Jerry Porter this week and Fred Taylor’s remembered that he’s a good running back. I think this is going to be ugly. Jags cover.

Arizona Cardinals +3 at New York Jets: The Jets got humilited by the Chargers last week but I think they respond at home. Jets cover.

San Francisco 49ers +7 at New Orleans Saints: My gamble on Reggie Bush because of Shockey blocking for him paid off for the first few weeks. Now, Shockey’s on his standard six week vacation and I don’t know how the Saints running game recovers from this. Lets hope “well” considering I had to pick up Pierre Thomas since both my starting running backs and both my backup runningbacks have byes on the same week. Poor planning on my part. The Ms. L superstars are trotting out Jason Campbell (Pennington’s on a bye), Pierre Thomas (Derrek Ward’s on a bye), and Correll Buckhalter (Willie Parker’s out) are tasked with defending the Superstars’ 3-0 record. All that said, I’m waging on the Niners run defense being… uh… porous. Saints cover.

Atlanta Falcons +7 at Carolina Panthers: I really don’t like this Falcons team. I don’t believe in them but I’m so used to not believing in them that I feel I just have to pick against them. Oddly, the Panthers have a pretty good chance to be in a really good spot just in time to get Steve Smith back. Weird league. Panthers cover.

Minnesota Vikings +3.5 at Tennessee Titans: I still don’t think the Titans are this good. Vikings outright.

Green Bay Packers +3 at Tampa Bay Bucs: So, the Pack loses to arguably the best team in the NFL and the Bucs sneak past the Bears by their back-up quarterback throwing 67 passes. Somehow, this translates in to three points for the Packers? Packers outright.

Buffalo Bills -9 at St. Louis Rams: The Rams have to be on the list with the other “pick against them until they cover” teams, right? Bills cover.

San Diego Chargers -7 at Oakland Raiders: *mutter*. Chargers cover.

Washington Redskins +11 at Dallas Cowboys: Two NFC East teams + gigantic spread = easiest bet on the board, I think. Redskins +11.

Philadelphia Eagles -3 at Chicago Bears: Because of the trainwreck of my week 4 fantasy season, I had to grab Correll Buckhalter off the Free Agent wire on Friday since all my waiver claims got taken in front of me. I am not amused nor am I hopeful for my first ever 4-0 start. That said, this is falling under my NFC East Rule. Eagles cover.

Monday
Baltimore Ravens +7.5 at Pittsburgh Steelers: Speaking of things that worked toward my combined 3 free agent pickups this week, Willie Parker is sitting after the absolute raping the Steelers’ offense took at the hands of the Eagles. Odd thing: the Eagles’ defense isn’t all that awesome, which means maybe the Steelers were a bit over-rated against good teams. Problem is: we still don’t know if Baltimore is a good team. I say they aren’t. Steelers cover.

The Five Good Spreads
5 points: Bills -9 over Rams
4 points: Chargers -7 over Raiders
3 points: Packers +3 over Bucs
2 points: Saints -7 over Niners
1 point: Broncos -9.5 over Chiefs

Thank God the Giants are off this weekend. I have enough stress already.

Then, the Mets did something they’ve done very, very rarely this season. They scored in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings to overcome a lead and knock the Cubs off. The Mets are where they need to be. Win out and force the Phillies to sweep the Nationals or the Brewers to sweep the Cubs. It was a much needed win and only cost me two years off my life.

My joy at the Mets winning, though, is tempered by the fact it took them nine solid innings to defeat a Cubs line-up that featured Rich Harden, Ryan Theriot, and not one single other guy who’s going to make a post-season start for the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs dropped their B-Team on the Mets for the final night at Shea and almost managed to take the series. Instead, the Mets scratched a walk-off win away from one of the Cubs worst relievers. I’ll take it, and I’ll be very happy about taking it, but I’m not going to pretend this is where they turn their season around. This with a win last night — maybe. Just this… not so much.

In perspective, the Mets did what they needed to do. The split the series 2-2 with the best team in the league, pulled within 1 game of the Phillies with 3 to play, and stay tied for the Wild Card following the Brewers accompanying walk-off win to claim complete and total ownership of the Pirates on the season.

So where are we now? The Mets host the Marlins in the deja vu series of the season. Last year at this time, the Marlins came to town for the last series of the season with the Mets tied for the division and out of the Wild Card. We all know how that ended. This year, there’s a one game difference. The Marlins come in to Shea for the last series of the season. We’ve come full circle. The Mets can either knock off the choker label they earned last year or, for the second year in a row, prove everyone right. For a second straight year, they will have gagged away a lead in the last three weeks against sub-.500 teams. They take a spot on the long choke list of New York City’s National League franchises. On the other hand, they get the chance to do what they didn’t do last year against the same team in almost the same situation. It’s a true second chance. Clean the slate.

We can STILL do this.