NFL Week 3: Well...we're just gonna have to use our brains.

DAMMIT! (Ned and Dusty's response to Lucky's observation that they're just gonna have to use their brains)

We've hit Week 3 of the NFL season and so far, we're perfect.  "Perfect" for us, is of course, dead even.  Last week we hit 7-7-2 and even split the two upset specials we picked.  We wonder just how many people lost $$ on the Ravens last week.  Seriously, Sugar Ray and company?  You get 2 points and you still lose OUTRIGHT to Michael Vick, the guy who threw so many picks to the Browns this week before we lost count?  Disgusting.

Oh well...on to the picks.

Giants (+2.5) v. PANTHERS

BPTC pick: Okay...so we forgot to post this pick.  We'll count it as a loss, but for the record, we would've taken the Giants getting the 2.5.  Why?  Giants are a better team on the road than at home and Tom Coughlin just lost shit on Shiano.  You just new he'd have his team up.

BEARS (-7) v. Rams

A week after crapping the bed versus the Pack, the Bears are favored by a TD versus a feisty Rams team.  This line has dropped a half-point.  We like that because we're thinking Cutler and Company come out and put up some big numbers in the face of all the criticism this week.

BTPC pick: Bears laying 7.

COWBOYS (-8) v. Bucs

Either Seattle is a really, really, really tough place to play, the Giants really, really, really suck at home or the Cowboys are a fraud.  Well...we know the first two are accurate...

BTPC pick: Bucs getting 8.

VIKINGS (+7) v. 49ers

The 49ers are looking legit.  The Vikes just lost to a rookie QB.

BTPC pick: 49ers laying the 7.

TITANS (+3.5) v. Lions

No feeling on this game whatsoever.

BTPC pick: Lions laying 3.5.

REDSKINS (-3) v. Bengals

The RGIII era officially has Redskins Nation giddy.

BTPC pick:  Redskins laying the 3.

DOLPHINS (+2) v. Jets

Oh man...the FistPumper returns to Miami.  Is he gonna serve revenge up via unleashing TEBOW on the Phins?  Cue every analyst this morning talking about how Sparano was the genius behind the wildcat and that now he's got a chance to hurt the team that fire him.  The only problem with that narrative, is that it was Dolphins QB coach David Lee, who coached at Arkansas, who suggested the Wildcat.

No question Rex Ryan is gonna let Sparano break out some new wrinkles with Tebow.  Why?  Because Rex is an idiot who enjoys drama more than, you know, actually coaching championship football teams.

The JETS should absolutely win this game.  And if you think that, you should be jumping all over this line.  But we're HOMERS and we're taking our Dolphins.

BTPC pick:  Dolphins getting 2.

SAINTS (-8.5) v. Chiefs

This just in, the Saints...not that good.  This game will answer the age old questions, is it better to be coach by your interim, interim coach or by Romeo Crennel.  We'll take the interim, interim.  But not by 8.5...

BTPC pick: Chiefs getting 8.5.

BROWNS (+3) v. Bills

Mario Williams got $50m guaranteed from the Bills.  So far, he has 3 tackles and one pass defensed.  That's it.  We think it's about time Mario starts giving Ralph Wilson some return on that investment.

BTPC pick:  Bills laying the 3.

COLTS (-3) v. Jags

We'll take Andrew Luck over Blaine Gabbert.

BTPC pick:  Colts laying 3.

CARDS (+3) v. Eagles

We don't know what happened to the Ravens versus the Eagles, but the Eagles are not good.  The Cards just gave Tom Brady all he could handle and Michael Vick had trouble with the Browns.

BTPC pick:  UPSET SPECIAL: Cards getting the 3.

CHARGERS (-3) v. Falcons

The Falcons jumped all over the Broncos early.  Be interesting to see if they can pack up the gear, head out west and beat Rivers & Company.

BTPC pick:  Falcons getting the 3.

BRONCOS (+2) v. Texans

Uh...anyone who watched the first part of that game (who was able to watch the whole thing?!) can see Manning's arm is NOT what it used to be.

BTPC pick: Texans laying the 2.

RAIDERS (+3.5) v. Steelers

The Raiders were supposed to contend in the AFC West this year.  They just got housed by a rookie QB in Miami.  Big Ben ain't no rookie.

BTPC pick:  Steelers laying 3.5.

RAVENS (-2.5) v. Pats

No Hernandez.  But the Ravens just lost to Michael "All I Do Now That I Can't Fight Dogs Is Throw INTs" Vick.

BTPC pick:  Brady getting 2.5.

SEAHAWKS (+3) v. Packers

Rodgers shows Romo how it's done...

BTPC pick: Packers laying 3.




Week 2 record: 7-7-2
Season to Date:  15-15-2 Upset Specials: 1-2
Career to Date: 401-376-31

NFL Week 2: Who does Number 2 work for?!

Week one of the 2012 NFL season is in the books and, shocker of all shockers, we went .500.  We've still got it!  Our slogan isn't "BTPC: Your Official Coin-Flip Prognosticator" for nothing.

It's always a bit tough to sort through week one results and make sense of them.  But, hey, that's why you pay such a premium for this service...huh...oh, it's free.  Forgot about that.  But slog through them we shall, bestowing upon you our Even Steven picks which you so richly deserve.  Week Two...Make it work for you...Enjoy!



Bears (+5.5) v. PACKERS

Man...are the Packers that bad or are the 49ers that good?  Not sure, the Pack did come back at the end. We're leaning towards the 49ers are that good right now.  The Pack can't afford to start out 0-2, can they?  Is this a "must win" already for them in week 2?  The Bears D is not San Fran's, but their offense is more explosive and it's certainly much better balanced than the Pack's.  We really, really don't want to bet against Aaron Rodgers at home after tough loss to start the season.  But 5.5 points is a lot.

BTPC pick: Bears getting the 5.5

BENGALS (-7) v. Browns

Two teams that did not look good last week.  The difference being, the Bengals played the Ravens who are pretty damn good, while the Browns played the Eagles who are not.

BTPC pick: BENGALS laying the 7.

Chiefs (+3) v. BILLS

Seems the CW on this would be to take the Chiefs.  But we think week one for the Bills was a bit of an aberration.  We don't think they're gonna be gangbusters, but we also don't think the Jets are that good. That game just got out of hand quickly and the Bills D just played horribly.  We're gonna give the Bills D at home one more chance before bailing on them.

BTPC pick:  BILLS laying the 3.

Vikings (-3) v. COLTS

The Vikings looked feisty last week.  The Colts got lost handedly to a team we just watched get manhandled on Thursday night.

BTPC pick: Vikings laying the 3.

DOLPHINS (+2.5) v. Raiders

Here's the deal with last week for the Dolphins.  They really did not look that terrible.  They were running the ball well and the D was playing the Texans tough.  Tannehill did not look RGIII special, but he also wasn't making terrible rookie mistakes.  Then, Thomas fumbled for the Dolphins and THill had the tipped balls.  Oakland is coming off a short week, traveling all the way to Miami, playing a 1 pm game in the Miami heat & humidity, in their black uniforms.  This game is totally set up for a Miami win...

BTPC pick: UPSET SPECIAL.  Dolphins getting the 2.5.

PATRIOTS (-13.5) v. Cardinals

Kevin Kolb will be back in a starting role for the Cardinals.  Let us repeat that: Kevin Kolb will be back in a starting role for the Cardinals.

BTPC pick:  PATRIOTS laying 13.5

Bucs (+7) v. GIANTS

Great stat from the Sportsguy: Dating back to the beginning of the 2006 season, the Giants are 32-17 on the road and 25-23 at home.  The Bucs look chippy.  The Giants play down at home.  7 points is a lot...

BTPC pick: Bucs getting 7.

PANTHERS (+2.5) v. Saints

We're gonna give the Saints one more week before we start questioning if the suspensions are gonna blow up the season as opposed to being a rallying cry.  We're gonna believe Drew Brees rallies the troops.

BTPC pick:  Saints laying 2.5

Ravens (+2) v. EAGLES

The Browns intercepted Michael Vick 4 times.  This just in...the Ravens are a much better Defense than Cleveland.  The fact that Vegas wants to give you two points on this one...well, that's like getting free money.  You like free money, don't you?

BTPC pick:  UPSET SPECIAL PART TWO! Ravens getting 2 (Hey...if they're gonna give you 2 pts, we're gonna call it an upset...)

JAGUARS (+7) v. Texans

Wonder what this line would be if Jacksonville actually had a home field...

BTPC pick: Texans laying 7.

RAMS (+3.5) v. Redskins

The Skins are basically running Baylor's offense.  Now that they've shown that hand, NFL defensive coordinators have tape on it.  RGIII is gonna be in a dome, it's gonna be loud and it's gonna be against a game Rams D.  If he pulls this off, he's really gonna start to look special...

BTPC pick:  RAMS getting 3.5.

SEAHAWKS (+3) v. Cowboys

Hawks at home are good.  Dallas shocked everyone in week one.  Romo returns to the scene of the crime (the botched hold) that still hangs over his head.  Hmmm...

BTPC pick:  Cowboys laying 3.

Jets (+5.5) v. STEELERS

We're not buying the Jets.  They hired Tony Sparano to be their offensive mastermind.  He's not one.

BTPC pick:  STEELERS laying 5.5

CHARGERS (-6.5) v. Titans

The Chargers were a long-snapper's FU away from losing.  That Titans D looked fired up against the Pats.  Even if Locker is out, Hasselbeck, when healthy, ain't chopped liver.

BTPC pick:  Titans getting 6.5

49ERS (-7) v. Lions

If didn't catch that Frank Deford piece on NPR the other day, here's a link to it.  What's it say?  Not much, just that in evening games, West Coast teams have won against the spread 70% of the time over the last 25 years.  You heard me, palooka. 70% of the time.  For a quarter century.  It's like we're giving you money here...

BTPC pick:  49ers laying the 7.

FALCONS (-3) v. Broncos

Are the Falcons for real or is Peyton really, really back.  When in doubt, go with the QB who hasn't had 4 neck surgeries in the last year...

BTPC pick:  FALCONS laying 3.


Season to Date:  8-8-0 Upset Specials: 0-1
Career to Date: 394-369-29

NFL. 2012. GET. IT. ON...

Guess who's back...Back again...The BTPC's NFL picks are back...Tell a friend...

Slim Shady may have sang those lyrics, but they apply today to the return of our old friend, the National Football League.  And with that return comes the return of your favorite NFL prognostication device: the BTPC picks column.  That's right...where else can you go to get NFL game predictions that are, statistically speaking, at best the same as flipping a coin.  Probably lots of places.  But you're not there, you're here.  Therefore, we shall give you what you want...

Dallas v. NY GIANTS (-3.5)
One game to start it off tonight.  The Cowboys go to Gotham.  How lucky are the Giants?  They win the Super Bowl, yet every single bit of attention is focused on the Jets thanks to Rex Ryan and Tim Tebow. Tom Coughlin is living right, people.

Meanwhile, Dallas hasn't been able to put a healthy team on the field once this preseason.  Laurent Robinson is gone, Dez Bryant has to BYOSS (Bring Your Own Security Squad), Miles Austin has been hobbled and Tony Romo's security blanket Jason Whitten has a lacerated spleen that has kept him from doing anything.  Add on top of that the fact that the one thing the Giants do very, very well is rush the passer and the Cowboys have lost so many Centers, they traded for one for the Miami Dolphins.  So in summary, Dallas is looking at having issues with hiking the ball, protecting Romo and catching the ball.  That's enough to make one start to worry.

Factor in that the Giants owned the Cowboys last year, winning both games, one being the pivotal season closer that sparked the Giants Super Bowl run and that worry becomes dread.

Then...mix in the fact that Jerrah "Does My Face Look Too Tight" Jones has been talking smack about beating the Giants all off-season and that dread should become sheer panic.

We think the Giants use tonight to serve notice to the rest of the league.

BTPC pick: Giants laying the 3.5

Colts (+10) v. BEARS
Andrew Luck, Julius Peppers.  Julius Peppers, Andrew Luck.  Oh...did we mention Brandon Marshall is back with the only QB he's ever really loved?  Or that he has a doppleganger on the other side of the formation in Alshon Jeffery.  Jeffery is like Marshall with out the personality disorder.

BTPC pick: Bears laying the 10.

VIKINGS (-4) v. Jaguars
Hey, Blaine Gabbert, look on the bright side...it will be so loud in the dome, no one will hear how bad you are sucking...

BTPC pick: Vikings laying the 4.

JETS (-3) v. Bills
The Jets decided to bring in a QB who can't throw, but who brings instant controversy to pair with a QB who has failed to live up to expectations.  And they brought in Tony Sparano to be the offensive mastermind who will unleash these two crackens.  As a Miami Dolphins fan, let me give you Jets fans some insider scoop on Sparano: he hasn't been holding anything back.  This is how bad his offense is.  Enjoy...

BTPC pick: UPSET SPECIAL: Bills getting 3

TEXANS (-12) v. Dolphins
As a Dolfan, we're just hoping this team looks better at the end of the year from what they do today (which we predict will be "like shit").

BTPC pick: Texans laying 12

Rams (+7.5) v. LIONS
Jeff Fisher's mustache has gone to St. Louis.  The Lions have a wealth of offensive weapons. Unfortunately none of them can run the ball.

BTPC pick: Rams getting 7.5

PATRIOTS (-6) v. Titans
We went heavy on Patriots on our Fantasy team this year. Brady, Gronk and Lloyd.  That probably does not bode well for them...

BTPC pick: Patriots laying 6.

SAINTS (-7) v. Redskins
Gonna be loud for this game, as Saints fans give one long, loud and enthusiastic F*ck You to Roger Goodell.

BTPC pick: Saints laying 7.

Eagles (-9.5) v. BROWNS
This is how bad things go for the Browns: they use their first round pick on a RB, who has already undergone two "procedures" before week 1 of the season.  Then their best defensive player, CB Joe Haden gets suspended for 4 games. Did I mention their rookie QB is 53-years old?  It's never a great thing with the best thing to happen to your franchise in weeks is the former owner dying...

BTPC pick: Eagles laying 9.5

Falcons (-2.5) v. CHIEFS
Here's how sad things are for the Chiefs: they actually decided Romeo Crennel would be a good choice as HC, you know...because that stint with the Cleveland Browns went so well...

BTPC pick: Falcons laying 2.5.

Seahawks (-3) v. CARDINALS
The Russell Wilson era begins.  Meanwhile, the Cards at least have Kevin Kolb and his contract.  So there's that...

BTPC pick: Seahawks laying 3.

BUCS (+2.5) v. Panthers
Josh Freeman was the poor man's Cam Newton before Cam Newton.  That Martin kid is gonna be a heckuva RB.

BTPC pick: Bucs getting 2.5

PACKERS (-5) v. Niners
Rodgers was praising Alex Smith this week.  It's almost as if he's been watching tape on Smith and feels really sorry for how bad he is.

BTPC pick: Pack laying 5.

BRONCOS (+2) v. Steelers
We're not willing to bet against Peyton Manning, even if he hasn't played in a real NFL game in over a year and has, in the interim, had 4 neck surgeries.

BTPC pick: Broncos getting 2.

RAVENS (-6.5) v. Bengals
Sure would be funny if all this Ravens buzz ran into a Bengal buzzsaw and faltered.  True story, Ray Lewis is 113-years old.  Ed Reed's body is 4-years older...

BTPC pick: Bengals getting 6.5.

RAIDERS (-1) v. Chargers
The "Hey...I'm not dead yet" game for two NFL QBs.  We'll take the one we'd rather have.

BTPC pick: Chargers getting 1.


Season to date: 0-0-0
2011 Record: 120-117-11
Career to Date: 386-361-29

The Official Move of the Romney Campaign...

The Romney Campaign might as well issue a press release making the facepalm the official hand gesture of Romney-Ryan 2012.  It all started back with Sen. Reid's successful hijacking of their message.  Remember all that reporting a while back on the crappy employment numbers?  No?  Oh yeah...that's because for two weeks, the narrative of the 2012 campaign was Reid's accusation that Romney wasn't releasing his tax records because they would show he hadn't paid hardly any income taxes.  Remember that?  You know...all the stuff about "a source" telling him.  Then Pelosi coming out and backing Reid?  Romney saying he's only releasing two years and that's it, he'd not be talking about it anymore. Of course you do.  And the fact that you do is proof of how successful Reid's ploy was.

To counter that hijacking, what was Romney's move?  He went and picked a fight with The Big Dog, aka William Jefferson Clinton, over...of all things...WELFARE.  WTF?!  Your response to getting played by Harry Reid is to go pick a fight with Superman IN HIS FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE?  Guess what...that was another 3-4 days lost.

Add in the charges Romney threw around in Ohio about Obama trying to disenfranchise military voters, which kind of blew up when the associations representing each branch of service members asks to file amicus briefs supporting the Presidents argument...shit's kinda been adding up in the L column for old Willard, and things haven't been going well.  

Enter the VP choice.  Yeah...it was time for Mittster to channel his inner Stella and get his groove back.  So, which way did he go?  Romney goes the McCain way.  That's right.  He made "a bold" choice.  That's code for "looking at the electoral map, we're gonna get our teeth kicked in.  If we don't want to get embarrassed, we need to make sure all the wingnuts turn out.  Let's pick someone who appeals to the far right."  Seriously, what VP pick that was obviously geared to energizing your base has worked in modern times?

So...after picking a VP pick that gifts Obama a custom-made argument to the seniors of Pennsylvania and Florida (who needs those states!), the Romney-Ryan express rolled out in to the country side.  Surely things improved.  Presidential candidates always get nice bumps when they announce their VP picks, especially if they're base is lukewarm and the pick was chosen to energize the faithful.

Uh...not so much.  While Romney has gotten a slight bump in popular vote polls and some state-centered polls, electoral forecasts still have Obama winning comfortably.  FiveThirtyEight has it forecast at Obama 291 - Romney 243.

It hasn't helped that in addition to the weight he voluntarily strapped to his neck like a beautifully bold-striped Brooks Brothers tie (ie., Ryan's Medicare and SS views), he's also got to deal with the fact that Ryan vigorously defended the stimulus under W and voted to bail out the auto industry and the banks. (Yeah...Ryan is such a die-hard free market capitalist, alright).  And it seemed pretty moronic to kill at least the relatively "good press" you have been getting since the pick by talking about what you said you were done talking about: your taxes, when you claimed to have gone back and looked and you paid at least 13% each year.  (BTW, that's a tell on Romney.  He actually thinks Joe Sixpack will think it's great he paid 13%.  Romney has no idea that majority of Americans are taxed at a higher rate).

Of course...that was before this week's HUGE FACEPALM moment.  Over the weekend, crazy-ignorant Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), who is the GOP's nominee for Senate "misspoke" by explaining that women who are victims of "legitimate" rape don't get pregnant, the body has "defenses" against that.  Obviously, Akin didn't misspeak.  He just screwed up by pulling back the curtain and exposing his warped and ignorant view of the world.  By the way, this yahoo is currently on the Science and Technology committee in the United Stated House of Representatives.  And you wonder WTF is wrong with that august body...

Why does this matter?  Well...it just so happens that dreamy Paul Ryan has been a big supporter of Rep. Akin.  They worked together to restrict access to abortions in house legislation.  Remember that whole brouhaha over "forcible" rape?  Yeah...that was them.  So, since Willard picked Ryan as his new BFF, he's gotten caught in Hurricane Akin.

And it gets worse.  Romney ain't exactly been an oak on abortion.  This is the guy who pretty obviously went from pro-Choice to win his governor's race in Mass., to pro-Life once he starting running for the GOP nomination simply for the votes.  He claims his views have "evolved."  Well...if that's the case, it's legitimate for folks to wonder if he's "evolving" to join the Ryan-Akin club.

Romney originally came out with a pretty weak statement on the whole Akin affair.

"Gov. Romney and Congressman Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin's statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape," said Romney campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg in a statement.

That was Sunday.  On Monday, Romney moved to calling the comments offensive and wrong.  On Tuesday, he released a statement pretty much calling on Akin to drop out of the race telling Akin to consider "what's in the best interest of the country."  As RNC Chairman Reince Preibus said:

"I think that it was pretty clear that Mitt Romney believes that everything that Todd Akin said was unbelievably at odds with rational thinking. He led the charge. Everyone followed suit. We all followed Mitt Romney's lead yesterday," said on MSNBC's "Jansing and Co."

Well...that's that, right?  Save by Romney?  Uh...just one problem.  See...they all didn't follow the Mittster's lead yesterday:

Republicans who are drafting the party's platform approved strong anti-abortion language Tuesday that makes no exceptions to allow abortion in cases of rape or incest victims, a statement of principle that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said is too limiting for his own beliefs.

Repeating the party's official 2008 position, the 2012 platform calls for "a human life amendment" to the Constitution and says "the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed." It makes no specific references to exclusions, and it's expected to be adopted with little dissent on Monday's opening day of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.

DOH!  How do they explain this?  Well, according to Preibus, this is the PARTY's platform, not Romney's, so it's all good.  Well...it's nice to know the guy you guys want to lead the country can't even lead his party on their platform, but ok.  You've dodged that bullet.  Unless...

Mitt Romney may not be able to “defend” Todd Akin’s theory that women can’t get pregnant from “legitimate rape,” but apparently the physician behind this controversial theory was an “important surrogate” for Romney’s presidential campaign in 2008. Dr. Jack C. Wilke, former president of the National Right to Life Committee, is known as the “father of the anti-abortion movement.” A 2007 statement from the Romney campaign hailed Wilke as “a leading voice within the pro-life community and will be an important surrogate for Governor Romney's pro-life and pro-family agenda.”

OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! COME ON, MAN!  Seriously...the facepalming in this Romney campaign is reaching epic proportions...

But, we're gonna help Romney out.  We've got some advice.  Mitt, if you really want to carpe diem, you'll go down to Tampa and when you give your speech, you'll stand tough...AGAINST the crazies in your party.  That's right, blast 'em.  Tell them their way of thinking is what cost the party the Senate in 2010.  And if they keep it up, it's gonna cost them the White House and eventually make the whole party irrelevant.  Think about it, Mitt would get great press, he'd come off as a strong leader and he'd undercut the attacks he's gonna continue to get hit with going forward.  But Mitt ain't gonna do that.  He'll pander.  He'll get the usual bump out of the convention and then he'll lose in November.  Just like Kerry in 2004 and McCain in 2008.

2012 Fantasy Team -- 6353 Wantabo: I am the one who knocks...

Yesterday, we had our annual fantasy football draft.  It's our 10th anniversary of this league, made up primarily of a bunch of us who worked together back in the day. We've come a long way.  Back in the day, we would score the games by hand, using USA Today's sports section.  (Note for the kids: USA Today was/is something called a newspaper, although not really a "real one" because it had...wait for it, COLOR photos. But we digress).  Anyway, everyone would have to score their own games too as a backstop for our scoring, then we'd send out a league email.  Eventually we moved to Sandbox on the internet and now, like millions of others, we just use Yahoo.

Anyway, this year's team is named after two of the best scenes on the best show currently on tv, Breaking Bad.  Our team name? 6353 Wantabo: I am the one who knocks...

We were picking 5th in a pretty standard scoring 10-team league.  Each week you start: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, TE, FLEX (WR/RB), FLEX (WR/RB), K, DEF

Our strategy was to get one of the top 3 QBs first (Rogers, Brady or Brees), then get one of the top 2 TEs (Gronk or Graham).  Oddly enough, Arian Foster fell to 5, but we stuck with the plan.  As you can see, it obviously left our RBs weak.  But we just rolled with it and kept picking receivers.  Yet another way fantasy football has changed in the past 10 years.  Used to be you HAD to get a stud RB to have a chance.  Now, it's such a passing league, that as long as you get one of the elite guys at QB or TE, where the drop off between the elite and "good" players' point totals are so much more severe, you're positioning yourself well.  And let's face it, how many RBs make it through an entire season without missing time as opposed to QBs or WRs?

As you can see, we went heavy on Patriots (which causes no small amount of heartache for a Dolphins fan like us).  However, once Brady and Gronk got on the team, we decided to go with Lloyd there in Rd. 4.  Might was well load up with as many as possible.  If Brady has a great year, so will we.  Sure, we're probably guaranteeing a loss in week 9.  So be it.  At least we won't be piece mealing the roster with our key guys all off different weeks.  And yes, the Jeffery pick was high.  But a) we're straight homers and b) there's a lot of Gamecock fans in that league.  Somebody was gonna take him.  FWIW, we think Jeffery is gonna be a beast this year.  We did think getting the Bills D after just about everyone else had picked Ds was pretty good (the addition of Gilmore and Mario Williams to an already good D just makes them that more attractive.  Plus you have Spiller in the return game).  And it seems crazy that Cutler dropped that low when you factor in that he's got his favorite target back (Marshall) along with a clone of said target (Jeffery) and they're both playing with the asst who was in Denver when they both blew up.

Anyway...Championship or bust...

6353 Wantabo
1.	(5)	Tom Brady (NE - QB)
2.	(16)	Rob Gronkowski (NE - TE)
3.	(25)	Steven Jackson (StL - RB)
4.	(36)	Brandon Lloyd (NE - WR)
5.	(45)	Reggie Bush (Mia - RB)
6.	(56)	Vincent Jackson (TB - WR)
7.	(65)	Eric Decker (Den - WR)
8.	(76)	Pierre Garcon (Was - WR)
9.	(85)	Reggie Wayne (Ind - WR)
10.	(96)	Ryan Williams (Ari - RB)
11.	(105)	Denarius Moore (Oak - WR)
12.	(116)	Alshon Jeffery (Chi - WR)
13.	(125)	Jacob Tamme (Den - TE)
14.	(136)	Jay Cutler (Chi - QB)
15.	(145)	Mario Manningham (SF - WR)
16.	(156)	Buffalo (Buf - DEF)
17.	(165)	Mason Crosby (GB – K)

Romney & Ryan: Priceless...

Vetting your new VP pick: $150,000 

Charter air fare to whisk you and your newest best bud to announcement event: $25,000

 Finding out your VP wants to close down the tax shelters you've been using to reduce your effective tax rate so low that you're scared to release more than two years of tax returns: Priceless...

 

115 Days Out...

Election Day is Tuesday, November 6, 2012. That puts us 115 days out from the election as of today. If you've been paying attention lately, the Presidential race is heating up. President Obama has been beating Romney over the head with the Bain stuff, which gauged by the protestations coming from Romney's camp, certainly seem to be working. In fact, the Bain stuff is definitely working, as all you heard about this week was Bain and not the flat unemployment numbers that just came out. Well played, Team Obama.

Moving forward, we feel the need to remind our Republican friends here in SC of a bit of reality. See...here in SC, it is easy for Republican-minded folks to get caught in an echo chamber. Hell, everyone they know hates Obama, so they assume their guy is headed for a cake walk in 115 days. They're wrong. The reality of the Electoral Map is pretty daunting for the Mittster. Now...we are always wary of putting too much stock in polls and there are any number of pitfalls between here and November 6 that could dramatically change the electoral landscape, but...the snapshot 115 days out looks pretty damn good for the President's re-election. 

Take a look at RealClearPolitics "Battle For White House" polling feature and the row Romney has to hoe becomes clearer.  Right now, they have Obama sitting at 221 electoral votes to Romney's 181, with 136 votes they label as "Toss Ups." Take some time to look at the polling numbers for the toss-up states. Looks pretty good for the President. (Tip: it takes 270 to win).

Personally, we see this race as a flip of 2004. Sure, the Right may hate President Obama as much as the left hated W, but John Kerry oozed charisma compared to Mitt. His campaign is like the gang that couldn't shoot straight, from their stumbling all over the SCOTUS decision, to their inability to be ready for the Bain hits, to now whining in response. It's all just weak. Add in the fact that, personally, we are seeing signs of an improved economy everyday and we think that adds up to re-election. Of course, we shall see. But 115 days out, that's our opinion. Let's see what happens in the home stretch.

BTW, Team Obama has dropped what we think is the most devastating ad we've ever seen in a long time. We're talking "Bear in the Woods" effective.