My 100 Favorite Songs: #26

Iggy Pop - The Passenger



The late Michael Hutchence of INXS came up with this incredible cover.

My 100 Favorite Songs: #27

Steve Miller Band - Jet Airliner



Originally written by Paul Pena, "Jet Airliner" is best in its extended version and preceded by "Threshold".

This was the defining song of my first year as a professional poker player.

Goodbye to all my friends at home
Goodbye to people I’ve trusted
I’ve got to go out and make my way
I might get rich you know I might get busted
But my heart keeps calling me backwards
As I get on the 707
Riding high I got tears in my eyes
You know you got to go through hell
Before you get to heaven

Week Ten Observations

1. Mike Shanahan to Chicago at the end of the season just makes too much sense for everyone involved, except Lovie Smith has a gigantic long-term contract that would cost the Bears to renege upon.

2. Jay Cutler plus a bad offensive line plus Ron Turner plus a n00bish corps of receivers = the most interceptions in the league.

3. I said last week the Bears would be one of the worst teams in the league if their quarterback was Kyle Orton instead of Jay Cutler, but you'd have to think Kyle Orton would have beaten the Niners last Thursday night. Either way the Bears are a bottom ten ballclub right now.

4. During the draft, the Broncos traded a 2010 first round pick for the opportunity to draft Alphonso Smith. It was assumed the Broncos could have traded either their own 2010 first rounder or Chicago's, which they had the rights to thanks to the Jay Cutler trade. The decision to use their own pick is looking wise.

5. Minnesota had 302 yards of offense in the first half against Detroit.

6. Percy Harvin is a truly incredible athlete, sort of like a taller Maurice Jones-Drew but at WR. His strength/speed/balance combination is dumbfounding.

7. Detroit's offense has regressed significantly since the early part of the season. The injuries to Matt Stafford, Calvin Johnson, and Kevin Smith disrupted their chemistry. Johnson, in particular, is not the same player.

8. Is it just me or are field goal kickers getting worse? I should look into the numbers.

9. The defense of the New York Jets is in shambles. Their defensive line is porous. The loss of Kris Jenkins was arguably the most devastating injury of the season to any one team. In a week or two I'll compile the list of the season's most significant injuries.

10. ***Guest Observation of the Week***
This week's observation comes from NFL diehard and fantasy football rival David Hoedeman. Hoedy has an interesting theory on how to improve Buffalo's sucktastic offense. For the record, I am in total concordance with him on this one.

“When you're losing, everyone's looking for answers.” - Ryan Fitzpatrick in a Tuesday press conference after being named the Buffalo Bills starting QB for Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Sage words from Fitzpatrick. We should expect nothing less from a Harvard grad. Of course, if he were actually that bright, he would know that if the question is, “Who should start at quarterback for my NFL football team?” the answer will never, ever be, “Ryan Fitzpatrick.”

Here's how I imagine the conversation between Fitzpatrick and new Bills head coach Perry Fewell transpired this week:

Coach Fewell: Ry Guy, we need to get some wins here. My ass is on the line. I've got to make a move here. Assert myself as the leader of this team. You're my guy against the Jags on Sunday.

Fitzpatrick: You are aware that our offense averages a meager 4.4 yards every time I drop back to pass this year, yes?

Coach: Hell good for you, son. That's almost half as many yards as that Manning guy, and he's damn good.

Fitz: That's actually the worst number in the entire league. Worse than any starter or backup on any team. Heck even Brady Quinn averages 4.7 yards per attempt, and he doesn't have a single NFL-caliber receiver on his team. Look Coach, I'm a competitive guy. I'm happy for the opportunity and I'll do my best, but I may well be the least talented quarterback on any NFL roster. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Coach: Well you're still my guy. That's the kind of tough decision a new head coach has to make. I've got balls, son. Don't you forget it.

Fitz: I'm completing less than 50% of my passes.

Coach: You got guts, kid.

Fitz: I was 2/7 in my cameo against Tennessee last week.

Coach: We need a spark.

Fitz: For 6 yards.

Coach: Go get ‘em son.

This is where the hapless, frustrated and frustrating Bills find themselves. Fresh off a midseason coaching change that followed a last-minute preseason offensive coordinator change—resulting in the 29th ranked offense in the NFL—Buffalo is attempting to turn things around by turning to 7th round draft pick and perennial journeyman bum Ryan Fitzpatrick.

If Fewell really had balls, if he really wanted to shake things up in a way that might actually improve the Bills atrocious offense, attract some attention and reinvigorate a passionate-yet-disenchanted fan base, then the Bills starting quarterback on Sunday would be running back Fred “Action” Jackson.*

This is not an overreaction to Jackson's one nice touchdown pass to Lee Evans in last week’s Titans game. I'm not calling for Jackson to start throwing the ball all over the field, nor do I think he should take every offensive snap at quarterback. But I absolutely think the Bills could improve on their 4.6 yards/play average if they became the first team to utilize the Wildcat as their primary offensive formation, bringing in Edwards (never ever Fitzpatrick… ever) as a change of pace about 30-40% of the time.

The reasoning for the birth of the Wildcat in Miami was simple: “We have two electric backs. Let’s get them on the field at the same time.”

The Bills can relate.

Fred Jackson is one of the most dynamic open-field runners in the league. Marshawn Lynch has a devastating combination of speed and power and the ability to be one of the league’s best all around backs. With T.O. and Lee Evans on the outside, along with the as-yet-unproductive-but-always-dangerous Roscoe Parish, the weapons are there.

What is not there is quarterback play and offensive line play.

The best way to minimize these inadequacies is to maximize the impact of their skill players.

Both Jackson and Lynch should absolutely be on the field at all times. With Jackson a threat to throw (okay so he’s only thrown one pass, but it was a really nice toss) if the defense gets too aggressive, and with misdirection coming from every angle (motion, fakes, play-action, end-arounds) to slow down opposing defenses and help out the Bills blockers, the offense would be difficult to stop, or at the very least average at least 4.7 yards per play. Which would be an improvement.

And if it doesn’t work?

They tried.

Perry Fewell would show he has some balls. The media would have a new Wildcat darling following the formation’s tragic demise in Miami on the heels of Ronnie Brown’s season-ending injury. And those poor desperate Buffalo Bills fans searching for answers would have something to get excited about, a reason to go to the stadium on Sundays.

I fail to see how even this worst-case scenario is not 400 times better than finishing the season with Ryan Fitzpatrick manning an offense that will be rivaled by only Cleveland and Oakland for utter futility.

Well, unless Cleveland and Oakland turn their offenses over to Joshua Cribbs and Darren McFadden.

Fitzpatrick gets it. He went to Harvard.

“The situation isn’t about a lack of talent. We’ve got guys on the outside, we’ve got the backs. We have the right guys to do it. It’s just a matter of getting them the ball,” he said in that same press conference. I didn’t watch the whole thing, but I’ll assume he added something along the lines of, “I’m just the worst possible guy for that job.”

*Though Fred has some competition for the official ‘Action Jackson’ nickname in the NFL, I feel his involvement in the Wild Cat gives him an edge over DeSean “Mr. Big Play” Jackson, Vincent “Touchdown” Jackson and Steven “Savage Warrior/Beast/Killer/Monster/Bulldog” Jackson.

11. Before his injury, Kyle Orton nailed Brandon Marshall on two easy touchdown bombs - the first real deep passes Denver has completed this season. But Orton also missed Eddie Royal on another easy bomb and ultimately that was one of many mistakes that cost the Broncos the game.

12. Before the season started, there was a lot of derisive talk about how old Denver's secondary was. The tune changed once it became apparent the Broncos had the best secondary in the league, but as the season progresses the mileage is starting to become apparent.

13. It's unfortunate Michael Turner sprained his ankle just as he was peaking. It's very unfortunate for my fantasy team, which was also peaking. But Atlanta's running game shouldn't take much of a hit. Jason Snelling is a more than serviceable replacement and Jerious Norwood is on his way back from a hip flexor. Atlanta's problems are their defense, special teams, and quarterback.

14. How many times do we have to watch Matt Ryan throw the ball away on that horrible roll-out to the right before Mike Mularkey stops calling that play?

15. Another play I am tired of watching is the deep ball to Ted Ginn. It's growing reminiscent of Braylon Edwards '08, except the ball just slips through Ginn's hands instead of bouncing off them like it does with Braylon. Like we saw with the Browns in '08, Ginn's inability to catch the deep ball is crippling the offense.

16. Connor Barth appears to have solved Tampa's placekicking problem.

17. I know Cincinnati swept Pittsburgh and has a better record, but I still think the Steelers are a slightly better team.

18. It's hard to do much against Cincy's D. They have arguably the best tandem of corners in the league with Jonathan Joseph and Leon Hall. Jonathan Fanene has stepped up in Antwan Odom's absence, their young linebackers are playing well, and Mike Zimmer is outscheming everyone. Zimmer has overtaken Mike Nolan and Gregg Williams in the defensive coordinator of the year race and should be a hot head coaching prospect after the season.

19. I've seen some ugly games this season. The worst was Cleveland at Buffalo, but Kansas City at Oakland came close. No one deserved to win that game. It was bad on offense, bad on defense, bad on special teams and poorly coached. Normally Dantrell Savage would win the Goat of the Week award for his terrible play but Darrius Heyward-Bey would not be denied this week.

20. Matt Hasselbeck and TJ Houshmandzadeh are finally developing some chemistry.

21. Remember when Housh played for the Bengals? I thought his loss was supposed to hurt them.

22. Arizona's vaunted rush defense disappeared the last two weeks, this week against the likes of Justin Forsett and Louis Rankin.

23. Despite running the ball well, Seattle called two pass plays on the one yard line in a tie game which they failed to convert.

24. Dallas couldn't even get enough protection to run screen plays against the Pack. They kept calling screens and Romo kept having to throw it away.

25. The overrated Asante Samuel keeps getting burned.

26. The other day I was watching a classic Patriots/Colts game on the NFL Network, the game in which the Pats stuffed the Colts four times from the 1 yard-line with the game on the line. Right before that goal line stand, as Peyton Manning was running the Colts down the field in a blistering 2-minute drill, Willie McGinest went down with a mysterious injury. It resembled a soccer injury - McGinest writhing theatrically on the ground, consuming time. But two plays later McGinest was back on the field, and on fourth down he made the game-winning tackle and then sprinted down the field in jubilant celebration. I mention this because Sunday night in a similar situation with Manning carving up the defense in the no-huddle, a Patriot defender went down with a mysterious injury. The crowd booed and Cris Collinsworth made note of it.

27. My take on the controversial Belichick decision: it was the wrong choice, but only because of the psychological repercussions. From a pure strategical perspective, it was very close. The real mistake was the pass call on third down. A running play on third down made more sense for many reasons.

28. Could Brady Quinn be worse than JaMarcus Russell? These two are the Ryan Leaf/Akili Smith of their generation.

Goat of the Week: Darrius Heyward-Bey, Oakland
Defensive Breakout Player of the Week: Quincy Black, Tampa Bay
Offensive Breakout Player of the Week: Brandon Gibson, St. Louis
Defensive Coordinator of the Week: Dom Capers, Green Bay
Offensive Coordinator of the Week: Clarence Shelmon, San Diego
Defensive MVP of the Week: Charles Woodson, Green Bay
Offensive MVP of the Week: Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville

32. Cleveland (32)
31. Oakland (31)
30. Kansas City (30)
29. Detroit (29)
28. Tampa Bay (27)
27. Buffalo (26)
26. St. Louis (28)
25. Chicago (22)
24. Seattle (23)
23. Washington (25)
22. Jacksonville (24)
21. New York Jets (17)
20. Carolina (21)
19. San Francisco (19)
18. Miami (16)
17. Tennessee (20)
16. Atlanta (14)
15. Houston (15)
14. Denver (9)
13. San Diego (18)
12. Philadelphia (10)
11. Green Bay (13)
10. New York Giants (12)
9. Arizona (11)
8. Dallas (8)
7. Baltimore (7)
6. Cincinnati (6)
5. Pittsburgh (2)
4. New England (5)
3. Minnesota (4)
2. Indianapolis (3)
1. New Orleans (1)

Week Eleven Picks

Also like:

Redskins +12 over COWBOYS
Eagles -3 over BEARS

If forced to choose:

LIONS -3.5 over Browns
Colts -1 over RAVENS
GIANTS -6.5 over Falcons
Saints -11.5 over BUCS
Niners +6.5 over PACKERS
Steelers -10 over CHIEFS
Bills +9 over JAGUARS
RAMS +9.5 over Cardinals
BRONCOS +whatever it ends up at over Chargers
Dolphins +3.5 over PANTHERS
Titans +4.5 over TEXANS
Seahawks +11 over VIKINGS
Jets +10.5 over PATRIOTS
RAIDERS +9.5 over Bengals

Three Team Teaser of the Week:
Redskins +22 over COWBOYS plus Steelers over CHIEFS plus Saints -1.5 over BUCS

Lock season record: 1-0
Really like season record: 3-8
Also like season record: 27-32
If forced to choose season record: 32-40-1
Teaser season record: 2-3
All games season record: 63-80-1

Rambling On Gambling

I started betting on the NFL because I loved watching all the games and figured I would have an edge on the public picking winners. I started betting on poker for the same reason – it was fun and I assumed I could beat the game if I tried hard enough. Making money has never been serious motivation for me to do anything. In high school and college I got jobs for the sole purpose of getting my parents off my back, and worked as little as possible.

I want to have enough money to live a comfortable life. For me a “comfortable life” means eating whatever I want whenever I want, living in a cozy home in a nice place, not having to stress paying bills, traveling from time to time, and one day, having kids. I have little desire to own multiple homes, cars, yachts, planes, etc. I drive a ’99 Volkswagen Jetta that I hope to drive for the next ten years. I have few expensive possessions. Don’t get me wrong – I spend more money than most people. But I have no tolerance for excess. Things like bottle service and first-class airfare make me queasy.

So on Sunday, when we lost more money betting on the NFL than ever before, it didn’t bother me too much. The depressing, embarrassing part of it was how much time and effort I had put into it and the knowledge that I had failed to beat this thing. In fact, I have never put this much into anything and failed at it. Except for girls.

Sunday night, in the wake of the NFL gambling apocalypse, I went sledding with some friends. One of my friends had recently seen a long-term relationship come to a close, and she was distraught. Seeing her and thinking about some of my own relationships made such a clear juxtaposition: a busted relationship is so much more devastating than a busted bankroll. Gambling losses hardly affect my disposition anymore, but human interaction still gets my heart in cartwheels. And sledding down icy Tantra Hill was ten times as exhilarating as watching the Chiefs beat the Raiders, ten times as terrifying as watching Chris Simms blow 3% of the bankroll.

The NFL betting corporation has been dissolved and once again I am officially a professional poker player. So here are a couple of the key hands I played this weekend. The first is from the FTOPS $2500 event.

Full Tilt Poker Game #16027231543: FTOPS Event #22 (2-Day) (109223926), Table 58 - 80/160 Ante 20 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:06:26 ET - 2009/11/14
Seat 1: I101 (18,150)
Seat 2: Smokinokun (17,868)
Seat 3: MrTimCaum (6,499)
Seat 4: biig_piig (5,274)
Seat 5: gdluck (25,278)
Seat 6: GnightMoon (15,813)
Seat 7: SN8WMAN (16,778)
Seat 8: AKat11 (7,158)
Seat 9: ScoopAndStack (5,247)
I101 antes 20
Smokinokun antes 20
MrTimCaum antes 20
biig_piig antes 20
gdluck antes 20
GnightMoon antes 20
SN8WMAN antes 20
AKat11 antes 20
ScoopAndStack antes 20
biig_piig posts the small blind of 80
gdluck posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to GnightMoon [Kc Kh]
GnightMoon raises to 367
SN8WMAN folds
AKat11 folds
ScoopAndStack folds
I101 folds
Smokinokun folds
MrTimCaum calls 367
biig_piig folds
gdluck calls 207
*** FLOP *** [Td 6s Qc]
gdluck checks
GnightMoon bets 849
MrTimCaum has 15 seconds left to act
MrTimCaum raises to 6,112, and is all in
gdluck folds
GnightMoon calls 5,263
MrTimCaum shows [As Ah]
GnightMoon shows [Kc Kh]
*** TURN *** [Td 6s Qc] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [Td 6s Qc 8c] [5s]
MrTimCaum shows a pair of Aces
GnightMoon shows a pair of Kings
MrTimCaum wins the pot (13,585) with a pair of Aces
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 13,585 | Rake 0
Board: [Td 6s Qc 8c 5s]
Seat 1: I101 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Smokinokun folded before the Flop
Seat 3: MrTimCaum (button) showed [As Ah] and won (13,585) with a pair of Aces
Seat 4: biig_piig (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: gdluck (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: GnightMoon showed [Kc Kh] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 7: SN8WMAN folded before the Flop
Seat 8: AKat11 folded before the Flop
Seat 9: ScoopAndStack folded before the Flop

At first glance this appears to be a standard cooler hand and an automatic call with an overpair in such an aggressive tournament as the FTOPS $2500. I did call the bet quickly and without too much thought, but a closer examination reveals this flop call is closer to marginal than automatic.

The first thing we need to consider is the player. MrTimCaum is a young professional. His name is Steve O’Dwyer, and I probably know a lot more about him than he knows about me. It’s possible he has read my blog, but more likely he has no idea who GnightMoon is. Maybe he sharkscoped me and saw some impressive low-volume results on Full Tilt. We had not been playing at the same table for long and have not played together much in the past, so he may know next to nothing about me.

I have read a blog or two Steve wrote for Cardplayer, but my actual knowledge of his game is limited. I do have many assumptions, though, and assumptions are what this game is all about. I assume the following:

• MrTimCaum is a tourney donk. He plays tournaments for a living and probably doesn’t have a ton of cash game experience. This assumption could be way off.
• The assumption that he is a “tournament” player rather than a cash gamer narrows his range substantially. Again this is a generalization, but cash players will call an under the gun raise with a significantly larger range of hands than tournament players. Personally, with my cash background, I would call this raise with all sorts of hands. Tournament players are usually more wary, more tight/aggressive, and employ more of a raise or fold mentality.
• MrTimCaum had already reraised an early position open of mine from the big blind, and seemed to be raising or folding when he chose to play a hand. So him flat-calling my raise should raise the hairs on the back of my neck. It did, but I ignored it because of the strength of my hand.
• The other suspicious thing about his flat-call is stack size. MrTimCaum started the hand with forty big blinds, and tourney donks don’t usually speculate with stacks of this size. They are taught to conserve their chips at this point, that if they are going to play a pot, winning it is paramount.
  

Based on these assumptions, it follows that when MrTimCaum jams over my bet on the flop, he has a very limited range. There is no flush draw, and the only open-ended straight draws are king-jack and jack-nine. It’s unlikely he would make such a large jam on the flop with jack-nine, but he probably wouldn’t call my preflop raise with any sort of jack-nine. In fact, and again I could be wrong here, I don’t think he would call my under the gun raise with king-jack suited or king-queen.

So if I think it’s unlikely he can have KJ or KQ, there are really only five hands he will have: aces, queens, ace-queen, tens, and sixes. Previous rationale makes sixes a bit unlikely, and he might choose to slowplay a set (particularly queens, which he may have reraised preflop anyways). Tourney donks also like to reraise ace-queen a lot of the time, so maybe that limits the chances of that hand showing up. Aces and tens are his most likely hands and they both crush me. AQ is the only hand out of the bunch I have a fighting chance against. There is always the “5%” chance that he is spazzing out with nothing, the Dan Harrington Theory, which I think is usually about right. When we throw in the fact there was another caller in the big blind, the fact that slowplaying aces is more popular than marijuana in the tourney donk community right now, the size of his bet, and the damage losing the pot would do to me vs the reward winning it would have, I think it all adds up to a fold.

This next hand, from the $500 FTOPS Main Event, illustrates diametric concepts.

Full Tilt Poker Game #16051472944: FTOPS Main Event (109224352), Table 237 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:46:11 ET - 2009/11/15
Seat 1: GnightMoon (10,027)
Seat 3: LAGityTAGity (9,994)
Seat 4: arobinson11 (7,158)
Seat 5: HalcyonDays (6,564)
Seat 6: John Banks1313 (7,345)
Seat 7: The_Madcap (7,755)
Seat 8: TopFlite06 (9,130)
Seat 9: Bullets_Up23 (6,310)
Bullets_Up23 posts the small blind of 25
GnightMoon posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to GnightMoon [9h Ts]
LAGityTAGity folds
arobinson11 folds
HalcyonDays folds
John Banks1313 folds
The_Madcap folds
TopFlite06 raises to 150
Bullets_Up23 folds
GnightMoon calls 100
*** FLOP *** [2d 5c Td]
GnightMoon checks
TopFlite06 has 15 seconds left to act
TopFlite06 bets 200
GnightMoon raises to 555
TopFlite06 has 15 seconds left to act
TopFlite06 has requested TIME
TopFlite06 raises to 1,795
GnightMoon calls 1,240
*** TURN *** [2d 5c Td] [5h]
GnightMoon checks
TopFlite06 has 15 seconds left to act
TopFlite06 has requested TIME
TopFlite06 bets 2,695
GnightMoon calls 2,695
*** RIVER *** [2d 5c Td 5h] [Jh]
GnightMoon checks
TopFlite06 has 15 seconds left to act
TopFlite06 has requested TIME
TopFlite06 bets 4,490, and is all in
GnightMoon calls 4,490
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TopFlite06 shows [Qs Js] two pair, Jacks and Fives
GnightMoon mucks
TopFlite06 wins the pot (18,285) with two pair, Jacks and Fives
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 18,285 | Rake 0
Board: [2d 5c Td 5h Jh]
Seat 1: GnightMoon (big blind) mucked [9h Ts] - two pair, Tens and Fives
Seat 3: LAGityTAGity didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: arobinson11 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: HalcyonDays didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: John Banks1313 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: The_Madcap didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: TopFlite06 (button) showed [Qs Js] and won (18,285) with two pair, Jacks and Fives
Seat 9: Bullets_Up23 (small blind) folded before the Flop

Here I defend my blind with a mediocre ten-nine offsuit against a button raiser. Although T9o is one of my most all-time losing hands, I feel comfortable defending the BB with it – especially in the early stages of a tournament like the FTOPS Main where the stacks are deep and I have a postflop edge against 99% of the players.

The flop gives me top pair on a dry board. The important thing here is that in this context, my hand is very powerful. Head up against a button raiser, I have his range crushed on the flop. There are plenty of hands that have me beat, but when you consider how many hands he will likely raise on the button and continuation bet when checked to, I am way ahead of the vast majority of them.

Now usually I am a pretty conservative player who likes to keep pots small. I generally prefer to call rather than raise with marginal hands. But in this spot, I have come to believe there is often more value in raising – to protect my hand but also to induce further bluffs and win even bigger pots. I have seen MasterJ play this situation many times, and so often he induces wild moves from opponents with nothing. Sometimes he stacks off way behind, but more often his opponents show up with air. MasterJ wears an FTOPS jersey and usually has a wild image, so he naturally induces moves more than a player like me.

In this situation my opponent probably didn’t know much about me, and I didn’t know anything about him – except for one little piece of information provided by the good people at Full Tilt Poker: this player was from Norway. I knew this before I got involved. Again generalizing, his nationality raises his likelihood of launching a massive three-barrel bluff.

The key to all this is that on a board of T53, you can’t have many hands either. So when you checkraise, it looks like you are full of crap. You should practically be expecting your opponent (if he is from Norway) to come right back over the top with nothing. If he actually had a big hand like an overpair or a set, it seems likely he might just call. After all, it looks like I might be bluffing – so why would he raise me if he had a hand?

I snapped the flop three-bet, and then snapped the turn. Everything about how it went down – the long pauses before he bet, the size of his bets, the button vs big blind pissing contest aspect of it, the Norwegian factor – made me think I had the best hand.

The river is where it gets a bit ugly. An overcard hit, but more importantly, he fires all-in on the river for less than half the pot. It’s hard for me to fold considering my read of the hand and how much money I have invested, but it’s also unusual for players to three-barrel bluff their entire stack in the early stages of a tournament – even if they are from Norway.

My 100 Favorite Songs: #28

Peter Bjorn and John - Objects of My Affection

And the question is, was I more alive
Then than I am now?
I happily have to disagree;
I laugh more often now, I cry more often now,
I am more me.

Week Ten Picks

Lock:
Ravens -10.5 over BROWNS

Really like:
Eagles +1 over CHARGERS
Broncos -3.5 over REDSKINS
Falcons -1.5 over PANTHERS

Also like:
JETS -6.5 over Jaguars
Saints -13.5 over RAMS
DOLPHINS -10 over Bucs
Chiefs +2 over RAIDERS

If forced to choose:
CARDINALS -8.5 over Seahawks
COLTS -2.5 over Patriots
TITANS -8.5 over Bills
Cowboys -3 over PACKERS
Lions +16.5 over VIKINGS
Bears +3.5 over NINERS X
Bengals +7 over STEELERS

Three Team Teaser of the Week:
Ravens -.5 over BROWNS plus DOLPHINS over Bucs plus Lions +26.5 over VIKINGS

Lock season record: 0-0
Really like season record: 3-5
Also like season record: 26-29
If forced to choose season record: 29-36-1
Teaser season record: 1-3
All games season record: 58-70-1