Author: thependulumswings staff

O No

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Ed Note: This article was originally published Monday.  An email out glitch prevented the subscribers from knowing that until Tuesday. Sorry.

BBR attempts each time it puts virtual pen to virtual paper to deliver a story that has an interest to a diverse national readership.

Coach Ed Orgeron of the Fighting Tigers of LSU was hardly that when he took over a proud football program that was stuck in neutral due to a stubborn coach named Les Miles.  Three years later a storybook15-0 season and an NCAA Championship made him just that.  Throw in some folksy “down on the bayou” logic and a big dose of the biggest frog anyone has ever had in his throat and you have a human interest story as well.

So how did this rags to riches story turn back to rags just 20 months later?  One of our staffers is quite close to the program and shares his thoughts this AM.

  1. In the SEC winning is the only thing.  A 9-8 record since the 15 and 0 run highlighted by a listless performance at Kentucky a week ago is reason number one.  When you make $9 million a year you don’t go 9-8.  When you coach in the SEC and make “only,” say, $4.5 million you don’t go 9-8 and survive either.
  2. Winning cures everything.  Losing exposes everything.  Orgeron’s actions while in front of the team, representing the team, and in his personal life away from the team had enough yellow flags in the last 20 months that they collectively went from a concern to a strong reason number two for his departure.
  3. O has never been a coordinator on either side of the ball.  Therefore, he needed to surround himself with two good ones.  He ran through OC’s like Auburn ran through his rush defense.  It went from Ensminger to Canada (who he had a fistfight with four games into his tenure) to Ensminger/Brady to Lineham to Peetz in five years.  That’s five coordinators, two buyouts, and too many losses in too short of a timeframe.
  4. He also gave then DC Dave Aranda, now a successful head coach at Baylor, a nudge out of the door late in the great 2019 season.  Ed wanted more pressure, more four-man fronts.  He said so publicly.  Out goes Aranda, in comes a three-year guaranteed contract for Bo Pelini.  LSU’s defense in 2020 was historically its worst EVER statistically speaking.  Pelini was bought out after one year.
  5.  What were they?  One was when he failed to dodge a question posed by a Fox News anchor in an interview about football life with the covid problem in 2020.  With little time remaining on-air she pivoted and asked what O thought of then-President Trump.  Instead of separating himself and the team from politics he warmly embraced Trump.  “President Trump is doing a great job.”   O is entitled to his opinion, but he needed to keep it to himself as the leader of the team.  It divided the team and the school’s leadership that he spoke out.  Free speech is no longer free.
  6. Two, the numerous off-field dalliances of a newly single man should have been private but were too public in today’s video and social media world. It’s his private life until it’s not.  The optic caused concern for a school with way too many Title IX transgressions.
  7.  Three, he had one too many “new friends” attending practice with or without their children running around like they, not LSU, owned the place.  It was a minor distraction or three that added fuel to the brush fire.  It showed a lack of focus on the job at hand when the hand that feeds him had just jumped his contract from four to nine million a year and guaranteed the next four years.
  8.  He had one too many brush-ups with fans or foes.  The second to last was calling out an overserved UCLA supporter and challenging him to a fight pregame.  “Bring your ass on in your sissy blue shirt,” Orgeron said.  The Tigers had little fight during the game losing 38-27 against a perceived inferior opponent in game one of this year that needed marked improvement from a 5-5 prior year.  The last was taking a question on his weekly radio show from a prankster who Oregeron then told that he “would find a fishing hole for.”  Individually harmless enough, collectively a sore spot.
  9. What’s next for O?  He’s going to finish out the year as HC for the Tigers then move on.  So, Orgeron is the interim coach replacing Orgeron until year’s end. Odd?  Maybe somewhat.  Then, we’ll see.  His days as a head coach are done.  Maybe a friend like Lane Kiffin could hire him as a defensive line coach which would be a back to the future move for both.  Or, his personality could fit well on local radio assuming anyone could understand him over the air.  Or, he could take his $17 million dollars that LSU will buy him out with over the next 18 months and sail away with his companion of choice.
  10. What’s next for LSU?  What is overlooked by recency bias is that LSU has been on a two decades-long run.  2019 was the best of the years, but 2003 and 2007 ended with LSU hoisting the most important trophy of all.  In 2011, they finished runner-up.  It’s a top ten job in America.  An argument could be made that it’s top 5.  The AD has a chance to do what O ultimately failed to do-hire a great person, trust them to do their jobs, and keep your nose at least clean enough.

Let the name game speculation begin.

Abby Picks, Year 4, Week 7

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Back in the late 70s, Reggie Jackson earned the moniker Mr. October for his assassin-like clutch playoff hitting.  A few(very few)Vegas watchers are beginning to wonder if Abby is on her way in the 20s to earning the nickname Ms. October for her assassin-like assault on the NCAA betting lines.

Another strong week brings the season she’s stacking up to 22 wins against 15 losses while winning 35 tasty bones and losing 18.  Her hunch bet lost last week, so that tally stands at 5-1.

Stay humble, we constantly remind her, as the Vegas Penthouse and the Vegas Outhouse accommodations are just one week’s reservations apart.

  1. Clemson -13 at Syracuse —  Abby’s been off of a down Clemson year.  But she thinks these Tigers get a dead cat bounce up north.  One bone.
  2.  Pittsburgh at Virginia Tech +5 1/2 —  This looks like a very live home dog.  The ML is tempting for a straight-up win as well, but give her the points.  One bone.
  3. Michigan St at Indiana +4 1/2 —  The Spartans have been playing winning football all year.  Indiana is a bit of a disappointment vs expectations.  Saturday the script flips.  One bone.
  4. Army at Wisconsin -14 — Abby barked for Army three weeks in a row.  She’s fading them now.  Whisky did her right a week ago, and she’s back for another round.  Two bones.
  5. Arizona St pick at Utah — What goes up and down more than a yoyo?  A Sun Devil.  Abby likes the Utes at home.  One bone.
  6. Oklahoma St at Texas -4 — The loser of last week’s epic Red River Showdown throws down.  Abby likes this one so much it scares her a bit.  Three bones.
  7. TCU at Oklahoma -13 1/2 — The winner of last week’s epic Red River Showdown might be in for a letdown.  A back door (or doggy door) cover is possible.  Nonetheless, Okie can score points in bunches.  One bone.

Mississippi can score points in bunches, too.  But the over/under at Rocky Top is 83 1/2.  On a strong hunch, Abby likes the under.  She also likes the Tennessee blue tick hound.

Four chalks, one pick, and two dogs.  It’s a bit against the norm.

Woof.

 

Ho, Ho, No

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Yes DC, there is a Santa Claus.

“With holidays coming up, you might be wondering if the gifts you plan to buy will arrive on time,” President Biden said from the White House yesterday. “Today we have some good news: We’re going to help speed up the delivery of goods all across America.”

And ole Joe, one of Kris Kringle’s older elves is here to help.  The White House responded to the roughly 66 container ship backlog by finalizing an agreement for the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach to become a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week operation just like the hours that Santa’s helpers keep this time of the year.

The hope is that nighttime operations will help to break the logjam and get that temporary inflation, which isn’t so temporary, under control.

Want to know a Santa’s secret?  The port has been operating 24/7 for the last 21 days.  Want to know another?   Consumer prices climbed 5.4% from a year ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday, way above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

Higher energy, food, and shelter costs were prime drivers of price increases in September.   There isn’t too much energy coming into LA’s ports.  And, it accounts for zero shelter cost increases.

Ah, but it’s been said before, and savvy politicians will say it again.  And, again.   Never, ever let a good crisis go to waste.  Alas, the president is trying to use the predicament as a selling point for his policy plans that are undergoing congressional scrutiny.

“We need to take a longer view and invest in building greater resiliency to withstand the kinds of shocks we’ve seen over and over, year in and year out, the risk of a pandemic, extreme weather, climate change, cyberattacks, weather disruptions,” he said.  That’s a mouthful of leftist cookies and milk if we’ve ever heard it.

What’s so weird about this is that Santa and his elves work in the harshest climate of all, the North Pole.  And, we’ve seen over and over, year in and year out that jolly ole Nick guy and his reindeer get to millions of homes, up and down chimneys, and deliver on promises all in one 24 hour window.  That’s a supply chain logistics model to emulate if ever there was one.  And, yet, it doesn’t work this year.  Hmm.

And, lost in all of this is that the ports are but one small piece of the puzzle.  Up and down the supply chain- wages, raw material shortages, manufacturing shortfalls, lack of truck drivers, lack of retail workers, etc all have a role.  Oh, and the government is stuffing money in the stockings hung on the mantle without care.

Rudolph’s red inflation nose is flashing so bright, that the Fed might need to deliver an interest rate lump of coal increase sooner than later.   That, of course, assumes coal is still an allowable fuel source should the Democrats pass the Reconciliation Bill, but we digress.

University of Michigan economist Betsey Stevenson noted on Twitter the “economy is in a very fragile and unprecedented place.”  “No one really knows what’s going to happen,” wrote Stevenson, a former member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama.

Maybe Santa could trade in his old, old sleigh. We hear used vehicles are commanding top trade-in dollars these days.

The problem with that is he’d need to buy a pricey new one.

And, those come from China, through the LA port, and are back-ordered until mid-2022 we heard.

Lefty and Shorty-Gruden, Gas Prices, etc.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Last evening Lefty and Shorty were all but ready to close the Gulf Station.   Rain was falling from the heavens at an accelerating pace and cars were nowhere to be found. Lefty- Why do we stay open until midnight?  Shorty-So that you and I can discuss this wacky world.

Lefty sat to the left of Shorty.  Imagine that.  Shorty sat on the shorter of the two “halves” of the 55-gallon drum. Imagine that.  Each was cut down to size and retrofitted with a soft cushion top.

Lefty- Jon Gruden resigned.  Shorty- It’s about time somebody took ownership of the fiasco under the Del Rio Bridge.  Lefty- What? Gruden, the Raiders coach. Shorty- Oh!  Maybe Jack Del Rio can take over as interim?  Why did he resign?

Lefty- Umm.  Gruden’s 10-year-old emails exposed him as a racist, a bigot, a misogynist, and a few other names that I cannot spell.  Shorty- What do 10-year-old emails have to do with the high price of oil today? Lefty- I’m dumbfounded, but in today’s cancel culture world I guess everything.  Shorty-What does dumbfounded mean?   Lefty-  Look in the mirror much?  Shorty- I’ve called Roger Goodell a few names myself from time to time.   Lefty- Everyone that has an NFL pulse has, but “gotcha” got Gruden this time.   Shorty- Frank Caliendo lost a voice.

Lefty- Moving along.   Shorty-  What’s Biden doing about the high price of oil?

Lefty- Same as he’s doing for everything.  Calling it transitory.  Shorty- Isn’t transitory one of those bad names that exposed Gruden that you can’t spell?   Lefty- Huh?  No.  He’s saying it’s only temporary.  Shorty- Like his presidency?  Lefty- Whew, you must have slept well last night! Here’s a softball down the middle for you.  Do you think Kamala takes over if Biden doesn’t quite make the four years? Shorty-  Who is harder to find these days, Kamala Harris or Brian Laundrie?

Lefty- This isn’t going well.  Shorty- You mean the gas business?  Lefty- Sure. I’ll bite.  Shorty- How can it?  We don’t have enough help.  We don’t have enough gas.  And, the cost per gallon is about to hit a decade-high price. 

Lefty- Just one more question should do it.  What do you think of the Reconciliation Bill?  Shorty- Not much.  If I was Bill I’d stay as far away from Hillary as possible.

Lefty- Be sure to lock up.  Shorty- Bill?

 

 

The New Wor(l)d Police

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Psst.  Did you hear the one about the Catholic priest, the rabbi, the Irishman, and the rooster?  Of course, you didn’t.  It’s no joke anymore.

Once upon a time, people found it funny to poke fun at themselves and others with the use of stereotypical jokes.  No more.  It’s deemed racially insensitive and sometimes even more.  Don Rickles would need a different occupation today.

The free speech police, over the course of time, switched sides.  Once, its job was to protect.  Now, its job is to deem what is allowed and what is not.

And, when the utterance is divisive, uncalled for, and downright mean even greater consequences loom.  We aren’t here to judge the change in the wind, we’re here to examine its hypocrisy at times.

And, one of those times might be 2011, though we only heard about it in late 2021.  The guilty party, you ask?  Jon Gruden.

What did he say back then?  It’s actually what he wrote.

Gruden emailed then-Washington Football Team president Bruce Allen about DeMaurice Smith, back in 2011.  “Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of michellin tires,” he wrote.  That qualifies for insensitive at the very least and misspelled as well.  But, you get the picture he painted.

Gruden later told ESPN he used the term “rubber lips” to describe someone he saw as lying and that he was frustrated by the lockout at the time and failed negotiations between Smith and Goodell.

And, now here comes the word police to solve the ten-year-old crime and administer punishment as well.  Judges and juries come as a package deal these days.

Some close to Commissioner Roger Goodell believe that ultimately a hefty fine and further diversity and inclusion training will be forthcoming, with a suspension possible.  But they also suggested that there are not many comparable situations to this and that other evidence could necessarily lead to a more intense punishment.

Other evidence?  Sounds like it’s time for an investigation.  Send in Kenneth Starr.

Gruden was working for ESPN at the time, not the NFL.  But, that won’t stop the NFL, or his current employer the LA Raiders, from doing what they deem necessary.

“The email from Jon Gruden denigrating DeMaurice Smith is appalling, abhorrent, and wholly contrary to the NFL’s values,” the league office’s official statement read.

There is an irony that Gruden wrote to one of the ultimate decision-makers of a team that at that time was known as the Washington Redskins.   Public sentiment in 2011 and prior strongly suggested that the Redskins change their nickname.

Did the league consider the nickname appalling, abhorrent, and wholly contrary to its values in 2011?  Does it now?  Will the league look back to its behavior then and fine itself somehow?  No.  Maybe some additional sensitivity training?

Daniel Snyder, the owner of the now nicknamed “Football Team” wasn’t ever going to change the nickname.  But, a #metoo movement swept through America in 2017 and with it swept out an exposed “boys club” mentality in the Washington front office.  Like the nickname, sexual harassment was a part of everyday life inside the organization.

Snyder did the NFL a solid and the NFL threw Snyder a lifeline.  Really, that’s more boys club at its finest.

Did the league consider the front office behavior appalling, abhorrent, and wholly contrary to its values then?  Will the league now investigate and fine Snyder or his team now for its behavior then?  No.

Google and Facebook are companies that decided a while back to control the narrative by limiting what you can say or write on their platforms.  It’s their right. The NFL can do the same on its own turf.  But now we get the NFL reaching into a private email written when Gruden was not employed by the NFL over a decade ago.

The slope is slippery.

The bill of rights protects the act of burning an American flag as freedom of expression. You don’t have to like it, just respect it.

It also protects freedom of speech, ignorant or otherwise.  You don’t have to like it, just respect it.

Well, it used to.

 

Abby Bets, Year 4, Week 6

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Rare is the Saturday that you take Vegas’ lunch money, but last weekend Abby did just that.

Rare was the steak that she bought and devoured enjoying her doggone good picking prowess.  That pushed her performance season to date to 18 wins and 11 losses, 28 bones won versus only 15 lost, and a still perfect 5-0 hunch bet result.

Even rarer would be doing it two weeks in a row.  Safety first is her motto this week as she doesn’t like chasing parked cars.

  1.  Arizona St -13 v Stanford and Washington St +3 1/2 v Oregon St. — Our west coast parlay pairs an odd couple.  Do the Sun Devils deserve to be favored by double digits over a team that beat Oregon last week? No.  Oregon St is playing solid football and has won four in a row.  Washington St?  Not so much. The west coast has a lot of odd couples.   One bone to win three bones.
  2.  Georgia at Auburn over 47 —  Georgia has not allowed a point in two straight weeks and only 23 in five games!  Auburn’s D bends but does not break.   Therefore, forty-seven seems high.  Both are due for a defensive letdown.  One bone.
  3.  LSU +3 1/2 at Kentucky — Fire Ed Orgeron!  The offensive line is offensive!  The playcalling stinks!  Kentucky is undefeated.  They are at home.  They just whooped Florida.  This is their year.  You get the one-sided picture.  Abby loves a good zig when others zag as you may have heard before.  Two bones.
  4.  Wisconsin -11 at Illinois —  In most games, Wisconsin doesn’t even score 11 points.  But, Abby thinks the Badgers are angry and we know the Fighting Illini have little fight.  Two bones.
  5.  Oklahoma -3 1/2 v Texas — Two future SEC teams renew their annual Dallas dogfight.   The Longhorns have been playing better of late, while the Sooners have been stumbling around.  That trend reverses itself Saturday.  One bone.
  6.  Michigan at Nebraska +3 1/2 — These two fan bases have a love-hate relationship with their head coaches.  Harbaugh is going to hate it, and Frost is going to love it when Nebraska kicks a last-second field goal to win this one straight up. One bone.

Alabama takes their talents to College Station tomorrow to face a reeling Aggie group.  Abby sees a close Bama cover but likes the under 51 1/2 on a hunch.

Woof!!

 

 

 

 

Buy Today, Deliver Tonight

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Those “come on” deals always sound so tempting.  You know the ones.

Buy this entire room of furniture today, have it delivered tonight with nothing down, no interest, and nothing to pay until…….

Until.  That’s the rub.  The bills always come due.  And, if you sell your soul to the devil(or Tony Soprano types) they never end.

Do take our word for it, ask POTUS.

He promised it all, or at least his team did, to the left of the left inside of the Democratic Party to get elected.  They wanted that room full of furniture.

So, they took to the streets, lit fires, threw rocks, looted, had mostly peaceful protests, told you that Black Lives Matter, wanted to defund the police for social justice, complained about the rich getting richer, needed tuition debt forgiven, wanted free preschool, and need to end this pesky climate change(hurricanes included) all to get Biden in office.  And it worked in record voting numbers we are told.

All of this unrest when unemployment was at record lows, the stock market was at record highs, interest rates were at record lows, companies building new in America were at record highs, illegal border crossings were at record lows.  We could go on.

But, the Trump world was a terrible one and we need to Build Back Better they said.  And, now the bills are due.

So, with one enormous spending bill followed by another, he’s attempting to pay off the debts of gratitude.  Like hurricanes, each bill had(Covid relief) or has(Infrastructure, Reconciliation) a name to remember it by.

But, a funny thing happened these last several weeks.  Controlling the House, the Senate, and the White House the party in power can’t agree on how much, how fast, when, where, and why.

The further left you are, the more you “need” for all of the minions that elect and reelect and reelect you.

The furniture hasn’t even been delivered yet.  Yet, Bernie Sanders wants to remodel and nearly double the size of the room (5 tril he says).  AOC scoffed at 3.5 tril on the Reconciliation Bill sarcastically asking if this was rent to own by month money.  Nancy Pelosi wants until the end of October to appoint the joint.  She’s trying to get the kids to agree on adding the love seat and dropping out the recliner.

And two Senators (Manchin and Sinema)aren’t sure if we need all of this new free stuff.

One of them, Sinema, made the mistake of getting up from the sofa and heading to the bathroom where she was accosted by malcontents likely hired to act like imbeciles.

Biden said yesterday that all of this stalling was the Republican’s fault. He really did.  He also said that he needed them to get out of the way as our nation’s economy was at stake over this.  He actually may be so wrong about the economy that he is right.

With gas prices at seven-year highs, supply chain issues across numerous industries, food prices skyrocketing, labor shortages everywhere, and the Fed carefully considering when(not if) to raise interest rates perhaps the last thing we need to do is print more money to create more demand and higher costs of living.

At least soon enough we’ll be able to forget about these squabbles over money we don’t have and buy some Christmas presents for our loved ones with money that we don’t have.

On Monday Dr. Fauci said we could have Christmas celebrations this year.  That was a relief because on one of Sunday’s morning shows he said it was too soon to tell if we could gather with our loved ones.

He also said that his comments were taken out of context. His problem is a lot like Urban Meyer’s problem.  Roll the videos.  But, we digress.

For now, the conservatives can tell the woke that we are going broke and the woke can tell the conservatives that our country is broken.

Buy today and we’ll deliver tonight!

 

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-NCAA Football

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

If you’ve never been to the Flora-Bama bar, you should put it on your bucket list.  No really.  Bama has the best team football team in the world and 1/2 of the best bar in the world as well.  It sits 1/2 in Florida and 1/2 in Bama, right on the state line, fifty yards from the Gulf of Mexico.

  1. Do you think that Nick Saban coach of the best football team in the world stewed for the last 12 months that his former OC, and chief needler,  Lane Kiffen put 617 yards of offense on Saban’s pride and joy defense last year?  Saban gets mad and gets even.
  2. Speaking of defense, Georgia hasn’t allowed a single point in its last eight quarters of SEC play, pitching two shutouts in a row over hapless Vanderbilt and upstart Arkansas.  Four Georgia running backs rushed for 87, 68, 57, and 48 yards.  Deep bench.  Oh, and the O scored 99 points total in those same two games.
  3. Should we pronounce the winner of the SEC Championship game the national champ?  Probably.  Raise your hand if you don’t think the game will pit Bama versus Georgia? Saban’s win makes him 23 and 0 against his former assistant coaches.  Could Kirby Smart outsmart Saban in December to make it 23-1?  Are we getting ahead of ourselves?   Saban would say yes.  We’d say no.
  4.  But, the BIG 10 asks, “what about us?”  Iowa owned Maryland(51-14) on Friday and Penn St owned Indiana(24-0) on Saturday to check in at numbers 3 and 4 respectively in the AP top 25.  They’ll meet Saturday on the field near the cornfields in Iowa City.
  5.  That matchup will feature two top 5 BIG 10 teams for the first time since 1997 that one of them isn’t named THE Ohio St University.  Both Iowa and Penn State have beaten two ranked opponents already.  So this game is going to have a significant impact one way or another as one of them makes it three.
  6.  But, the Cincinnati Bearcats ask, “what about us?”  Cincy checks in proudly at #6 after going into South Bend and bouncing the Irish 24-13.  Cincinnati’s defense isn’t Georgia ferocious, but it’s mighty strong.  The Bearcats showed against ND they can perform on big stages. They have only one marginally ranked (24 SMU) left on their schedule.  Is that good or bad for them?  It depends on how the others ahead and slightly behind them play out.
  7.  And, 5-0 Oklahoma wants to make their way into the big boy talk.  At seven they’ll get a chance to pad their resume, as the winners of 13 straight are headed to Dallas to face # 21 Texas in the Red River Shootout next Saturday.
  8. Who is still undefeated besides all of the above-mentioned?  If you guessed Michigan, Michigan St., Coastal Carolina, Kentucky, Wake Forest, Oklahoma St., SMU, and San Diego St. you’re watching way too much football on Saturdays.
  9. That thud you heard late Saturday night was previously undefeated and now # 8 Oregon laying a big duck egg v Stanford. Arizona St is the only other PAC12 ranked team.  Oregon’s body of work includes a fine win at THE, so they’ll stay in the conversation for now.  But the PAC 12 playoff conversation is hanging on by a thread until something or things really shake up the standings.
  10. Although it could have been a reverberation from College Station where preseason #7 Texas A&M dropped out of the top 25 with a certified stinker of a loss to Mississippi St after losing to Arkansas the week before.  Jimbo’s contract was extended and guaranteed before the season started. The extension will increase his salary to $9 million on Jan. 1 and $9.15 million on Jan. 1, 2023.  After that, his salary will increase by $100,000 each year through 2031.  That’s good work if you can get it.  A&M has opened as an 18 point dog to Bama this week.
  11. (Lagniappe) Iowa is favored by 3 over Penn St., as is Michigan at Nebraska, as is Oklahoma v Texas in The Red River Shootout that you can’t call The Red River Shootout anymore.

Out.

Abby Picks, Year 4, Week 5

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

As Wall St pundits preach, “pigs get fat, but hogs get slaughtered.”

Last week, Abby felt queasy about the games and lines and stayed conservative.  The strategy paid as the bleeding was minimal and required only a small bandaid.  Therefore, through four weeks the tale (tail) of the dog is 12-9 won/lost, 19-10 bones won/lost, and the hunch bet extended its winning streak to 4-0!

The matchups and the spreads get more interesting this week as key conference matchups abound.

  1.  Arkansas at Georgia -18 — Speaking of hogs, Arkansas gets slaughtered this week.  Why?  Three reasons.  One, it makes no sense that they are underdogs to the Bulldogs by 18, so they will.  Two, Georgia is elite.  Three, Abby loves UGA the Bulldog mascot.  Two bones.
  2.  Houston +5 at Tulsa —  Abby loves to spot (not the dog) a team that she feels is a live underdog to win straight up.  One bone.
  3.  USC -7 1/2 at Colorado —  Does USC deserve to be favored over anyone by a touchdown or so on the road?  No.  Vegas knows something.  Abby knows when Vegas is trying to buffalo (see what she did there?) the betting public.  Two bones.
  4.  Washington at Oregon St -2 1/2–  Who are these guys behind the dark visors?  Quick, name one Beaver?  Thought so.  They play hard for four quarters, Washington sometimes does not.  One bone.
  5.  Ole Miss +14 1/2 and under 79 1/2 at Alabama —  Vegas has both the points and the total set way high to try to drum up some Rebels and under action. Abby will bite on the bait. Can Mississippi stay within two touchdowns vs. Goliath?  Can the scoreboard operator keep up with this offensive explosion?  “Yes and yes,” she barks.  One bone on Ole Miss and two on under.
  6.  Baylor at Oklahoma St. -3 — Baylor is getting better but on the road.  Oklahoma St is getting better and is home.  One bone.
  7.  Miss St. at Texas A&M -7 — Another Bulldog, this one from Starkville, travels to College Station.  Abby expects A&M to bounce back strong.  Two bones.

Auburn visits a rainy Death Valley Saturday night.  LSU can’t run the ball and Auburn can’t pass the ball.  Abby expects both Tiger teams to force the action on D.  On a hunch take under 56 on the total.

Seven games, eight bets, twelve bones, and a strong hunch.

Woof!

 

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Life and Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

BBR’s fall Board of Directors meeting starts tomorrow in an undisclosed location in the Deep South.  This AM we are emptying our files, folders, creatives, thoughts, and tidbits to provide ten very random nuggets.

We’ll likely be dark until Friday when Abby gives us the weekend’s winners.

Business meetings aside, beaches, booze, and ball games beckon.  After all, someone once said all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.  Who is this Jack person?

  1.  NFL Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker’s 66 yards long, best-ever field goal beat the Detroit Lions 19-17 yesterday at the game’s end.  It bounced on and then over the crossbar.  The 19-17 final is the same score that the Saints beat the Lions on a 63 yarder at the game’s end by Tom Dempsey 51 years ago.  The Ravens overcame a fourth and nineteen on the last drive to get in range.  They also avoided a blatant delay of game penalty.   Detroit losses in “oh so Detroit” fashion once again.
  2. Aaron Rodgers needed a mere 37 seconds to brilliantly drive the Packers to a final game-winning field goal as well.  After the ugly loss to the New Orleans Saints to open the season, Rodgers has thrown six touchdowns without an interception over the past two weeks.  A few years back he asked everyone to relax after a mid-season loss.  He even spelled it out for reporters. R-E-L-A-X!  In today’s world of instant overreaction, fueled by social media, we forgot to learn that lesson yet again.
  3.  The Raiders, Broncos, Panthers, Rams, and Cardinals are the lone undefeated teams after three weeks.  If you picked that three weeks ago you are one smart, or very very lucky, individual.  The Tampa Bay Bucs lost to those Rams late yesterday breaking a 10 game winning streak.
  4.  “Da Bears” invested the second pick overall last April in Justin Fields and yesterday decided to make him their starting QB.   He was sacked nine times while only throwing six completions versus the Browns for a putrid 68 yards.  Three games in the Bears are 1-2 and have scored a total of 40 points.  Can Head Coach Matt Nagy survive the season?  Doubtful.
  5. That thud that woke you up Saturday night was Clemson dropping to #25 in the AP Top 25 after its second loss of the early season.  North Carolina St. did the deed after Georgia held Clemson to three in the Labor Day weekend opening loss.  Clemson is still ranked, but on reputation only.  The reverberation that you felt was Arkansas pushing Texas A&M around.  A&M fell from too high #7 to #15.
  6. If you haven’t watched the Hogs play, you’re missing the best story of the football year.  Sam Pittman and his fine staff have the Razorbacks at 4-0 and ranked #8. They come at you for 60 minutes and from every angle.  They’ve beaten Rice, Texas, and Texas A&M all thoroughly along the way.  Maybe Friday Night Lights should be filmed in a different state?
  7. Let the annual debate of “does Notre Dame belong in the playoffs” begin.  They started the season slowly but are 4-0.  They started the game in Soldier Field slowly too, but closed strong, beating Wisconsin 41-13.  The Badgers scored a total of 23 against Penn St and ND in two early-season losses against quality opponents.
  8.  Turning to the world that we live in, guess which US state has the highest rate of new infections from the coronavirus?  Alaska.  Cases there have ratcheted up while the south seems to be past the latest peak.  So much for social distancing helping out.  And, you can read all of the state-by-state infection rate blame game info that you want.  The virus doesn’t see, know, or care about state borders.
  9. In fact, it doesn’t care about which country it is in either.  Norway joined Sweden and Denmark in removing all restrictions.  “It has been 561 days since we introduced the toughest measures in Norway in peacetime,” Prime Minister Erna Solberg said in a Friday news conference. “Now the time has come to return to a normal daily life.”  561 days.  What happened to two weeks to flatten the curve?
  10.  Where’s Brian Laundrie?  “No buzzards, no body,” says Florida cattle rancher Alan McEwen.  He has spent nearly every day of the last 30 years navigating the woods where Brian Laundrie is suspected of hiding and says it’s not conducive to habitation.  “There’s no surviving out here, I don’t know how to say it,” he continued.  Did Laundrie’s parents give the FBI and local officials a head fake when they retrieved the car from the entry point to his hiking in the preserve?  You have to think so.  Laundrie is either alligator food or never was hiding in the swamp.  A really sad story has turned beyond bizarre.