Welcome Week 9!

I had no idea how much of an influence gambling is in enjoying NFL football. For a decade I had followed football here and there for a bit, having my travails with teams for a season or two. And after 5 years of Buffalo suffering, and 2 years of Pats loving (when they lost in the SB with Bledsoe, not the Brady bandwagon) I thought I had my fix. Until last year!

My mother's best friend's son (I have no other better way to phrase it) invited us over a few times last year to watch games at his place as he had Sunday Ticket. He insisted I drop a toonie on a few games just for fun. And yes, I was hooked.

Despite knowing that one has absolutely no control over the game's outcome, it's still fun attempting to pray your team to victory when a few bucks are on the line.

Blasphemous? Totally. At the same time I challenge one of you to try it for a few weeks and then NOT anticipate Sunday afternoons!

This year myself and Jamie dropped a bit of coin to be in a point spread pool, and we're hoping this week will be the breakthrough week where we finally whoop some arse. At the moment we're about 18th out of 44 people and seem to have vanilla weeks every week! What I've discovered is that we're pretty decent at picking games involving the Jets, Giants, and Rams. On the flipside, we've found it impossible to prognosticate matches involving the Chiefs, Buccanners, and Falcons. Here's to hoping our picks work out this week!

Oh yeah, here they are....

KC @ STL (-2.5)
Maybe the hardest one to pick. The Chiefs have done well the last few weeks, but the games were at Arrowhead. The Rams seem to be very good on turf and I think we just both closed our eyes and the first team to pop in our heads we chose. Go RAMS!

CIN @ BAL (-2.5)
Another hard one. As much as I want to see 'Ocho Cincho' do a touchdown dance, I can't see it happening that often against a vicious Ravens D. That family friend of mine who got me into betting loves the Ravens and they've tended to do well for us. Quote the Raven - PLEASE WIN!

HOU @ NYG (-12.5)
Eli at home - nothing but a 'thang. I backed frikkin Houston to pull of a few upsets and they dissappoint me time and time again. Sage Rosenfeld at QB? My brother loves the Dolphins and had to laugh at hearing that last week. GIIIIANNNNNTSS!

TEN @ JAX (-9.5)
As much as I like Jacksonville (they were one of the teams I was thinking of supporting back in the day), they're so damn inconsistent I can see David Garrard playing it safe and winning the game 28-23 or something like that. Hence we took the Titans.

DAL @ WAS (+2.5)
How 'bout them Cowboys? They're such a tease. They get Romo to finally start at QB after one good week and everyone's ready to crown him as the saviour. And while I know the Redskins are probably not playing Brunell, Portis, AND Moss, something tells me they'll pull this one off in some weird, Chris Cooley way like they did last season. Jamie will be kicking me if this goes wrong as he can't see it happening.

GB @ BUF (-2.5)
Favre's on a roll. I figure he's got one last kick at the can like Muhammad Ali going into the Rumble in the Jungle. After this week I see him being rocked into retirement. In the meantime, we're taking the Pack.

NO @ TB (+0.5)
I'm still arguing with Jamie that the New Orleans Saints are going to fade fast, but they seem to be Jamie's sentimental favourite. And seeing as he correctly picked them to win at their return to the SuperDome in September, I'll let him have this one - GO SAINTS!

ATL @ DET (+4.5)
Another big discussion with J-Fizzle. The line just seems TOO good to bite on. In theory Michael Vick should roll over a team while playing on turf. In reality I see him having a shitty game as he seems to always have after two great games. Jamie insisted at how bad Detroit was and couldn't fathom the thought of Detroit covering. We'll see (we picked the A-T-L).

MIA @ CHI (-13.5)
It's a pretty sad tale when a Dolphins fan doesn't want to see this game, expecting it to be 41-0. We both couldn't see how in the world the Bears don't cover this. After going to Chicago in May I've seemed to pick up on all Chicago teams, hence my liking of the Monsters of the Midway. Oh yeah, and any reference of bears reminds me of Conan's Masturbating Bear (I don't know why).

MIN @ SF (+4.5)
The Vikes are Jamie's team. Since Minneapolis was the closest NFL city to his village of Thunder Bay, he joined their set. I still think of them as the team with the ugliest jerseys in the NFL. Always have been, always will. Gore will take care of 'em!

CLE @ SD ( -12.5)
LaDainlian is going to run rampant over the Brownies. So long as Schottenheimer doesn't start playing Marty-ball, we should be good with the Chargers. I still don't get why they don't ditch the ugly navy blue jerseys for the powder blue 70s ones.

DEN @ PIT (-2.5)
Now our rule of thumb is that Jamie and myself pick the games involving each other's team. As I followed the Steelers quite a bit last year from the second half of the regular season on, I've been crowned a Steelers fan. Luckily, Jamie has allowed me to full-heartedly cheer for them this weekend!

IND @ NE (-2.5)
Zan thinks Tom Brady is the Clark Kent of the NFL. A strong, good-looking, can't-do-wrong dude who is just too damn perfect. As much as I want to pick them, I can imagine that Peyton Manning has been planning for this game since last February. Jamie agrees and I begrudgingly say go colts.

OAK @ SEA (-7.5)
Seattle without Hasselbeck and Alexander - no problem, cuz it's the RAIDERS! There's no way they win three games in a row, as the UNDERDOG. It might actually awake Al Davis, and nobody wants that!

Wow, I can't believe I actually chronicled each and every game this week. I imagine maybe two people read this, and both of you skimmed! Here's to hoping J-Roc and myself are geniuses!