Cheer Up??/Football Picks for This Weekend

Greetings everyone, except for you Rapey P. McForehead. Last night, after I had posted my last blog, I was told by someone who I wanted to talk with to cheer up. Cheer up. You know, nothing could be more insulting to someone who has been through the ringer a time or ten the past twenty-thirty years to "cheer up." Quite frankly, it pissed me off to where I didn't feel like talking to her today. I only asked her if she still wanted to see me, because just over a week ago she said that it would be nice to see me again. No reply. Of course. So, either she really doesn't care, or her professional wrestler bf isn't allowing her to. Hunch tells me it's the latter, but I doubt it. And of course, I'm crippled as far as what I can do in part because of family. But just know, I'm awfully disappointed. Why has this year been so cruel to me?

Anyway, since it Friday and it's the end of September (someone wake up Green Day), I may as well dispense my not-so-spectacular football picks for this weekend. I lost again last night, no thanks to the Dolphins' idiotic medical team. So, my September picking pro games was terrible. To the college games tomorrow (and Sunday because of Ian):

#21 Minnesota over Purdue
Army over Georgia State
Air Force over Navy
Louisville over Boston College
Illinois over Wisconsin (upset)
#4 Michigan over Iowa
#18 Oklahoma over TCU
Texas Tech over #25 Kansas State
#7 Kentucky over #14 Ole Miss
#12 Utah over Oregon State
East Carolina over USF (in Boca Raton)
#23 Florida State over #22 Wake Forest
#11 Penn State over Northwestern
North Carolina over Virginia Tech
#9 Oklahoma State over #16 Baylor
Appalachian State over Citadel (by the way, kudos forApp State for pulling an Atlanta Falcons last week in blowing a 28-3 lead to James Madison)
#2 Alabama over #20 Arkansas
#3 Ohio State over Rutgers by at least 50 (my opinion of Greg Schiano is about as low of that of T****).
Mississippi State over #17 Texas A&M
Duke over Virginia
#5 Clemson over #10 NC State (ugh)
#1 Georgia over Missouri
#24 Pitt over Georgia Tech
#6 USC over Arizona State
#13 Oregon over Stanford
Florida over Eastern Washington (Sunday)

Now for the NFL:

Minnesota over New Orleans in London
LA Chargers over Houston
NY Giants over Chicago
Detroit over Seattle
Jacksonville over Philadelphia (you already know why I'm picking the Jags)
Pittsburgh over NY Jets
Cleveland over Atlanta
Tennessee over Indianapolis
Dallas over Washington
Baltimore over Buffalo (upset)
Carolina over Arizona 
Las Vegas over Denver
Green Bay over New England

Kansas City over Tampa Bay (what happened to me last night MAY have influenced this pick somewhat)

LA Rams over San Francisco.

Those are my picks for this weekend. Enjoy.

CT

Post Hurricane Thoughts

 Hello again everyone, except you Lara Trump. Seriously, where's DCF when you need them? I wrote earlier about how damned lucky we here in the northern reaches of Tampa Bay in my last post, and since I have been triggered by my crush's goofball of a boyfriend (yuck) on social media, so therefore I'm in one of THOSE moods, so folks, get your popcorn ready because I'm here to dispense some post-Ian thoughts.

First off, for as much devastation as Ian brought, at least it could have saved its punch for one particular building in the Orlando area. Unfortunately, that did not happen. 

If not that, then it could have blown my crush's dingbat bf to the other side of the state, or better yet Jacksonville.

Yeah, you can tell I'm still having trouble processing that. Now I may have nobody to shop for Christmas this year. 😒

Oh Lord my sister was on one yesterday, because the internet was out until this afternoon around noon. She was very unhappy that she wasn't able to watch "The Masked Singer." Well guess what? Fox 13 in Tampa didn't air it to begin with because WE HAD A NEAR-CATEGORY FIVE HURRICANE IN OUR BACKYARD!!! She ought to thank her lucky stars we had power throughout, although I am curious why Spectrum interrupted cable service to Hernando County.

Lizzo is a national treasure, and quite possibly the most popular flautist ever.

Aaron Judge finally hit his 61st home run. Of COURSE, it would be on the night that I had no cable...

Speaking of sports, my pro picks flopped last week, as I went a remarkable 5-11. I'll have the rest of this weekend's picks tomorrow, but for tonight, I'll pick Miami over Cincinnati and cross my fingers.

The only other unbeaten? The damned Eagles. You know why I dislike them especially this year, and I'm hoping like hell Jacksonville pulls off the upset this week.

Along those lines, this year really has been shitty from a romance standpoint. Every woman I have had a crush on (except one) wound up with someone else this year. I don't know if the Universe is trolling me harder than usual or if everyone gets offended if I like someone more than just as a friend. I honestly don't get it. The only crush that hasn't found someone is vegan and may be moving to Paris (which is the nickname of a crush I had a few years ago that no longer speaks to me because I don't drink the MAGA Kool-Aid).

Speaking of which, I wonder which day this year was worse, February 2, or July 17...

However, this is one woman on the mark...hold up, I'm now being told it's (checks notes) Marjorie Taylor Greene. Excuse me while I jump out a ten-story window (not really).

Speaking of tomorrow, time permitting because I may have to help put things back from hurricane prep, I should have my flashback segment back on here. For now, I kind have ran out of things to rant/talk/write about. So in the meantime, take care, and stay safe.

CT

We Got Lucky...VERY Lucky

Hello everyone, except you Hurricane Ian. As many of you know, Southwest Florida was heavily devastated from a vicious near-Category Five hurricane yesterday. Naples and Fort Myers are virtually underwater. Cities and towns from Sarasota to Naples devastated. If anyone remembers Hurricane Andrew in 1992, this is just as bad if not worse.

Fortunately, the immediate Tampa Bay region was, for the most part, spared (again) from the brunt of the hurricane's wrath. South of the Bay, a tragically different story lies in wait.

I wish I could tell you more, but to be honest here in Hernando County we've been without internet service since yesterday morning, before the storm even hit. Why I have no idea, but for some reason Spectrum kinda left us in the dark. My eldest sister of course went on a rampage. She ought to be lucky we have power, shelter, and quite frankly the privilege of being alive right now because for folks in Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier Counties, that sadly isn't the case. 

When I do get internet service back, whenever that is, I'll be more able to write about this. For now, I have to deal with a somewhat spotty cell service to write this entry, which is better than nothing.

But we here in Pasco and Hernando Counties got lucky...VERY lucky.

CT

September 23-26 Football Preview

 Greetings everyone, except for the government of Iran. You can't get any lower than a morality police to make sure your citizens adhere to a strict religious doctrine. One reason why I'm not very religious anymore, if at all. 

Anyway, another big weekend of football is upon us. Before I get to that though, I have to touch briefly about Tropical Depression Number 9. It's in the southern Caribbean now, but the long-range forecast has it on a collision course for Florida, and the WRONG part of Florida at that. Something to definitely keep an eye on for the next week or so...

Now onto the football picks. I made my picks for three college games and the TNF game on AMazon Prime yesterday, and I missed on that game. So I need to cue up that video of Morty telling Summer to get her stuff together.

On a somewhat related note, I have to check out the new season of "Rick & Morty" sometime. But on to the picks. As always, 506 Sports has your hookup as far as what you'll see and when. As for tonight and Saturday (34-14 so far this season)

Syracuse over Virginia

Air Force over Nevada

Boise State over UTEP

#4 Michigan over Maryland

Duke over Kansas (both teams are 3-0 in football, not basketball)

Iowa State over #17 Baylor

#24 Pitt over Rhode Island

Louisville over South Florida by a billion

#14 Penn State over Central Michigan

#5 Clemson over #21 Wake Forest

#11 Tennessee over #20 Florida (hate to say it, but after the Gators' performance last week, they don't deserve to win this week)

Appalachian State over James Madison

Notre Dame over North Carolina (ugh)

#25 Miami over Middle Tennessee

#22 Texas over Texas Tech

#15 Oregon over Washington State

UCF over Geogia Tech

#16 Ole Miss over Tulsa

East Carolina over Navy

#10 Arkansas over #23 Texas A&M

#3 Ohio State over Wisconsin

#2 Alabama over Vanderbilt (bonus pick: Vandy covers the -41 spread)

#12 NC State over UConn

#6 Oklahoma over Kansas State

Florida State over Boston College

#7 USC over Oregon State

#19 BYU over Wyoming

#18 Washington over Stanford

#13 Utah over Arizona State

Now for the rest of the NFL slate (15-17-1 so far):

TAMPA BAY over Green Bay

Detroit over Minnesota

Baltimore over New England

New Orleans over Carolina (at this point, Panthers fans wish they had Mercedes Ruhle instead of Matt Ruhle)

Chicago over Houston

Kansas City over Indianapolis

Philadelphia over Washington (ugh)

Buffalo over Miami (and to cover, the Bills are that damned good)

Cincinnati over NY Jets

Las Vegas over Tennessee (upset special)

LA Chargers over Jacksonville

Seattle over Atlanta

LA Rams over Arizona

San Francisco over Denver

NY Giants over Dallas (hot take: these Giants are for real)

Again, I hope to better this Sunday than in Sundays past. In the meantime, enjoy your weekend of football watching.

CT

Football Weekend In Review

 Hello again, everybody. Did you enjoy the insane (once again) weekend of football? I know I did, even if my picks to win were an absolute disaster, more on that in a second. First off, I wanted to touch on one of the more incredible endings I have ever seen. For those of you who missed it, Appalachian State (fresh off an upset of Texas A&M the week prior) was facing (cowboy) Troy University in Boone. Late in the fourth quarter with Troy clinging to a four-point lead, App State faced a fourth and goal situation from just outside the two-yard line. The pass to the endzone fell incomplete, so Troy took over on downs. However, Appalachian had two timeouts left despite only 1:13 being on the clock. Fast forward to third and seven for Troy with only 1:09 left. They call a run up the middle that gains five yards which wound the clock down to 25 seconds, where they called time out. On fourth down, instead of punting from their endzone, Troy took an intentional safety, making it 28-26, and setting up a free kick at the 20 yard-line. Here's where I don't get what Troy tried to do next; they SQUIB KICKED the free kick instead of booting it deep. As a result, Appalachian was near midfield and had four opportunities to get some positive yardage. The second attempt could have been intercepted, sealing the Troy win. Instead, this happened:

\

Crazy finish, huh? You can bet that after this weekend there wasn't any moonshine left in western North Carolina (College GameDay broadcast from there earlier on Saturday). Anyway, I had a rather mixed bag picking college games. I went 0-2 on Friday, but Saturday was much better:

W Virginia Tech over Wofford
W #4 Michigan over UConn
W #9 Kentucky over Youngstown State
W #6 Oklahoma over Nebraska
W Army over Villanova
W #1 Georgia over South Carolina
L Purdue over Syracuse
W Virginia over Old Dominion (barely)
W Notre Dame over California (barely)
W Appalachian State over Troy
W #25 Oregon over #12 BYU
L Auburn over #22 Penn State 
W #20 Ole Miss over Georgia Tech
W #19 Wake Forest over Libbity Bibbity (barely)
W East Carolina over Campbell
W Duke over NC A&T
W #15 Tennessee over Akron
L Texas Tech over #16 NC State (upset special)
W UCF over FAU
W #18 Florida over South Florida (barely, the fact they won by three over freaking USF in unacceptable)
W #21 Texas over UTSA

Among the games I didn't pick, Arizona State somehow lost to Eastern Michigan. A loss so humiliating that it cost Herman "you play to win the game" Edwards his job. So including Friday's games, I went 18-5 on the weekend to bring my total to 31-12 so far.

The pros were mental again this weekend, three blown leads (and nearly two more), fights, and a major beatdown Monday night. I want to turn my attention to the Cleveland-NY Jets game this weekend. First off, there were these rather ugly scenes outside FirstEnergy stadium before the game (which happened to be the Browns' home opener). Then the game, in which it appeared the Browns had in the bag when Nick Chubb scored a touchdown to make it 30-17. One problem in hindsight that tends to get overlooked when the score happened because football players have an instinct to score unless it's discussed by the head coach; the Jets were out of timeouts, but it was just before the 2:00 warning, and the line to gain was the one-yard line. So, theoretically, Chubb could have ran out of bounds after reaching the line to gain, the Browns could have kneeled down for the rest of the game and salted away the win. That wasn't quite what happened. A missed extra point, an egregious blown coverage that led to one Jets touchdown, and a recovered onside kick later, and the Jets somehow were back in the game, and they wound up scoring the touchdown and the winning extra point for a 31-30 win. Was it incompetence on the Browns part? Possibly, was it karma from what happened before the game that I mentioned earlier in this post? Probably. Anyway, Browns fans were bent after the game, so much so one fan attempted to recreate the 2001 Bottlegate scandal. However the fan wound up striking Browns owner Jimmy Haslem and was later arrested. Cleveland, when will you ever learn?

As for my picks, they stunk as bad as durian. Anyone ever try durian? Seriously I don't know how people find it a delicacy. Anyway, here's how I did:

L Pittsburgh over New England
L Baltimore over Miami
L Cleveland over NY Jets
L Indianapolis over Jacksonville
L New Orleans over TAMPA BAY (this one I was glad to get wrong)
W NY Giants over Carolina
W Detroit over Washington
W LA Rams over Atlanta
W San Francisco over Seattle
L Cincinnati over Dallas
L Las Vegas over Arizona
W Denver over Houston
W Green Bay over Chicago
W Buffalo over Tennessee
L Minnesota over Philadelphia (should have known that Kirk Cousins sucks out loud in primetime)

TNF 1-0
Sunday early: 2-5
Sunday late: 3-2
SNF: 1-0
MNF: 1-1
-------------------
Week 2: 8-8

Total: 15-16-1. Still under .500. I have to turn it around next week, which I hope to do unless I get sidetracked with family coming down from North Carolina. Anyway, have a good rest of your Tuesday!

CT


Oh, check out JaguarGator9 on youtube. Lots of informative stuff about college and pro football!

Flashback Friday: 9/20/1985

 Hello everyone. As promised, I have returned for this week's Friday Flashback after a week's hiatus. This week, I thought I'd return to Springsteen and Madonna, way before Nirvana. That's right, we're going back to the future 1985 tonight. So, without further ado, here were the top 40 songs for the week ending September 20, 1985:

40. Communication by Power Station. Power Station was a supergroup consisting of Robert Palmer, John and Andy Taylor of Duran Duran fame, and Tony Thompson from the band Chic (remember "Le Freak?"). Anyway, when this song was popular, I would play a little game with the small radio I would listen to. There was an old-timey gospel station just down the dial from Q98 in Fayetteville, NC and every time the song in question would say, "communication," I would quickly flip it to the gospel station for a few seconds, then flip it again at the time "communication" was said again. To me it was hilarious.

39. And We Danced by The Hooters. No, they weren't a band full of hot waitresses serving wings and beer. Instead, this Philadelphia outfit's founding members got their first success from arranging, writing, and performing on "She's So Unusual," Cyndi Lauper's debut album.

38. You Belong To The City by Glenn Frey. Did you know? On this date in 1984, the TV show that this song came from debuted? Yes, "Miami Vice" made its groundbreaking debut on this day thirty-eight years ago. And there have been quite the list of guest stars during its run on NBC.

37. Smokin' In The Boys Room by Motley Crue

36. You're Only Human by Billy Joel

35. Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams. Alas, it wasn't a summer of 69 for me. Maybe I can make up for it this autumn and winter...

34. We Built This City by Starship. Remember when every radio station in a major market did their own voiceovers to the interlude of this song? Tampa's was kind of lame tbh...

33. I Got You Babe by UB40 and Chrissie Hynde. Rather forgettable remake.

32. Freeway Of Love by Aretha Franklin. Timeless classic. When Real Radio 104.1 in Orlando was in their infancy during the summer of 1993, this would be a staple of their weekend music selection.

31. Be Near Me by ABC. The message is perfectly simple, the meaning is clear. Unless I'm saying it, then for some reason said person acts like they're confused, isn't that right, T****? Yes, I'm still a little bitter about that.

30. One Night Love Affair by Bryan Adams. At this stage of my life, a one-night love affair would be a vast improvement over what I have now...

29. Four In The Morning by Night Ranger. In ither words, my bedtime.

28. I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down by Paul Young. Nope, don't remember this one on radio.

27. The Wat You Do The Things You Do by Hall & Oates et al. This was recorded live at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem.

26. Sunset Grill by Don Henley

25. Invincible by Pat Benatar. On the soundtrack for "The Legend of Billie Jean" starring Helen Slater. Also made a brief comeback as a meme on YTMND a few years ago.

24. Head Over Heels by Tears For Fears. Funny how time flies...

23. Every Step Of The Way by John Waite

22. Lovin' Every Minute Of It by Loverboy. Outside of "Working For The Weekend" and "This Could Be The Night," this I think wa their biggest hit.

21. Miami Vice Theme by Jan Hammer. See #38.

20. Dare Me by The Pointer Sisters

19. The Power Of Love by Huey Lewis & The News. Whoa Doc, this is heavy.

18. C-I-T-Y by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band

17. We Don't Need Another Hero by Tina Turner. We could use some more actually.

16. Cry by Godley & Creme. Yuck

15. I'm Goin' Down by Bruce Springsteen. Something I wanted to say this summer. But I didn't want my emotions to feel that way dammit!

14. Pop Life by Prince

13. Part-Time Lover by Stevie Wonder

12. Fortress Around Your Heart by Sting. Apparently, there is one around mine, because nobody wants to storm it. At least not the women I do like...

11. Dancing In The Street by David Bowie and Mick Jagger

10. Saving All My Love For You by Whitney Houston. I remember slow dancing with a girl I liked at the St. Pauls, NC town scout hut for someone's birthday. She went to a private school and I lost contact with her. She's now married to someone else. Such has been my fortune.

  9. St. Elmo's Fire by John Parr

  8. Lonely Ol' Night by John Cougar Mellencamp. I've spent about a million of them...

  7. Oh Sheila by Ready For The World

  6. Freedom by Wham!

  5. Cherish by Kool & The Gang

  4. Don't Lose My Number by Phil Collins

  3. Take On Me by A-ha. Not too long ago, this was popular on TikTok for an effect they used that was in the video of said song, but it didn't include that girl with the tie-dye shirt dancing.

  2. Dress You Up by Madonna 💓💓💓

and the number one song on this date in 1985 was...

  1. Money For Nothing by Dire Straits.

This took entirely too long, and I wanted to get some drawing of my crush done. So I'll see you towards the beginning of next week.

CT

Weekend Football Picks Blog. 9/16-18/2022

Hello again everyone, except for you Brett Favre. Seriously, people in Mississippi can't drink water and you're out here trying to get a new facility built for your daughter's college team. SMH. Anyway, we've made it to the weekend, finally. It's been a trying week for some of you, I know. Hopefully this weekend's slate of college and NFL games aren't too stress inducing. 

So, here we go with some college picks for Friday and Saturday. Hopefully, it won't be as chaotic as it was last weekend (record 13-7)

Friday:

Louisville over Florida State
Air Force over Wyoming

Saturday:

Virginia Tech over Wofford
#4 Michigan over UConn
#9 Kentucky over Youngstown State
#6 Oklahoma over Nebraska
Army over Villanova
#1 Georgia over South Carolina
Purdue over Syracuse
Virginia over Old Dominion
Notre Dame over California
Appalachian State over Troy
#25 Oregon over #12 BYU
Auburn over #22 Penn State 
#20 Ole Miss over Georgia Tech
#19 Wake Forest over Libbity Bibbity
East Carolina over Campbell
Duke over NC A&T
#15 Tennessee over Akron
Texas Tech over #16 NC State (upset special)
UCF over FAU
#18 Florida over South Florida
#21 Texas over UTSA

NFL: (8-8-1 after last night's KC win)

(to see which games you're getting in your area, click here)
Pittsburgh over New England
Baltimore over Miami
Cleveland over NY Jets
Indianapolis over Jacksonville
New Orleans over TAMPA BAY (Bucs have lost seven straight games in the regular season to NO, and the injury report looks like a MASH unit)
NY Giants over Carolina
Detroit over Washington
LA Rams over Atlanta
San Francisco over Seattle
Cincinnati over Dallas
Las Vegas over Arizona
Denver over Houston
Green Bay over Chicago

and we get TWO games on MNF:

Buffalo over Tennessee
Minnesota over Philadelphia (upset, because reasons...)

(the catch from last Sunday night)

Hopefully I can improve on last week's slate. Well, sis is complaining again so I have toi cut this short. I hope to have my flashback blog up later this evening. In the meantime, take care.

CT

Late Wednesday/Early Thursday Thoughts

 Greetings again everyone, except for you Ron DeSantis. Seriously, what was he trying to accomplish with the stunt he pulled on Wednesday? I already loathe the guy, and he does this. Now sure, the right will spin it to say that he was doing a humanitarian thing by sending those immigrants to a progressive part of the nation. I ain't buying it. Then again, I haven't bought anything the right has said in about a decade now, especially after T**** got "elected." So, there's no reason to start now. And DeSantis wants to be referred to as "America's Governor." Please. I saw that on Instagram from someone who I at one time wanted to date and nearly laughed my cereal out of my mouth.

Speaking of love interests, I am pleased to report that me and my love interest from earlier this summer are back on speaking terms. Where this goes from here, who knows? But, in the end, whether or not anything happens, I know I have a great friend on my side who I love to pieces, and I am appreciated as well by her. Oh, and she wants to see me again. Plus, I've also discussed what to get her for Christmas. Stay tuned...

Tomorrow night is the first Thursday Night Football game on Amazon Prime, which I do not have. Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit will be at Arrowhead for the Chiefs and the Chargers. If last week is any indication of what to look forward to this week, I think Kansas City shouldn't have too much of a problem, even though Los Angeles won at Kansas City last season. Probably tomorrow I should have my picks for this weekend's college and NFL games...

I didn't see any coverage of Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, and quite frankly I couldn't care less. I mean it is sad that she passed, and her reign was historic, but as my civics teacher Mr. Smith (God rest his soul) once said, her role (was) largely ceremonial and didn't carry a whole lot of weight. Plus, during her reign, most of the British Commonwealth became independent, from Africa to the Caribbean. However, the English monarchy more or less has become obsolete, and it's time that the royal family to be dissolved. 

I don't understand all this fuss about The Little Mermaid being cast as a woman of color. For some reason, people are up in arms because Halle Bailey, the actress who portrays Ariel in the live-motion adaptation of the 1989 animated classic (and not to be confused with Halle Berry), doesn't look like the Ariel we knew from the version thirty-three years ago. I don't have a problem at all with it, and even kids are in awe of Bailey's portrayal of Ariel. So why the racist backlash? In the words of Depeche Mode, "I don't understand what makes a man hate another man, help me understand."

(isn't she gorgeous?)

I didn't have a flashback last week, so I hope to remedy that tomorrow. In fact, I'm pondering if I should start a different blog altogether which will solely be focused on flashback to charts past. I may need input on whether or not I should...

For the past five months, I had been dealing with partial loss of hearing in my right ear because of wax buildup. Finally, all the wax that had been stuck to my eardrum has cleared itself up, and I can hear somewhat clearly again. Talk about a relief. 

I'm debating whether or not to hyperlink the website of the woman I alluded to earlier in this entry for you horndogs out there. I think I should ask her permission first though. You know what, she's on Twitter now, so here you go. You're welcome.

I think that will do it for this entry for now. Like I said, I should be back tomorrow sometime, until then, see you on Twitter.

CT

Weekend In Review, A Few Days Late...

 Greetings again everyone, especially to those at Hardee's in Mankato, Minnesota. Haven't had too much of a chance to get on here the past couple of days. Painting is finished, but I had an appointment at the VA yesterday, plus a video chat with my therapist today. Therefore, this entry is a little late, but hopefully not dollars short. 

(womp, womp)

Let's start with Friday night. Not a good night to be honest with UCF falling flat on their faces against Louisville in Orlando, and New Mexico struggling as usual against Boise State. On top of that, the St. Pauls MAGA Warriors (Bulldogs) spanked my high school friend's kid's team, Cameron Union Pines in high school action. Yes, the town I disowned got themselves a victory somehow Friday night, but there was a Facebook story of two Saint Pauls police cruisers with sirens blaring responding to a call. Good to see virtually nothing has changed in that damn town in the last twenty-five years. My alma mater did pull through though, as Apopka defeated Orlando Dr. Phillips in a defensive battle, 7-6.

Saturday was wild. No other way to put it. Notre Dame lost at home to Marshall, Marshall, Marshall. Alabama SHOULD have lost to Texas but survived by a point. Appalachian State went into College Station and beat Texas A&M. Wisconsin lost to Washington State at home. Three of those game I didn't pick because I thought they would be somewhat easy victories for those schools. Oh, was I wrong. I got Alabama right, but they didn't cover, and Nick Saban wasn't too thrilled about some of his players doing the horns down gesture after the game. 

As for the games I did pick, well here the results:

#12 Florida over #20 Kentucky L
Vanderbilt over #23 Wake Forest L
#3 Ohio State over Arkansas State W
Miami over Southern Miss W
Penn State over Ohio W
North Carolina over Georgia State W
#1 Alabama over Texas W
Northwestern over Duke L
#16 Arkansas over Army L (I messed up the pick, see below)
Memphis over Navy W
Air Force over Colorado W
#17 Pitt over #24 Tennessee L
Iowa State over Iowa W
Texas Tech over #25 Houston W
Illinois over Virginia W
East Carolina over ODU W
Virginia Tech over Boston College W
#21 BYU over #9 Baylor W

Stupid me picked Arkansas to win against an opponent they didn't play. They played South Carolina. Meanwhile Army did lose, but to UTSA. As a viral video once said, "Way to go, Paul." So, including the two misses on Friday night, I went 13-7. Not good.

Now for the pro slate, I whiffed on the kickoff game, bad. Buffalo throttled the Rams. That's one loss. The Sunday slate saw me get one of my upset specials right, but not much else.

L Detroit over Philadelphia 
T Indianapolis over Houston
L Carolina over Cleveland
L San Francisco over Chicago
W Washington over Jacksonville
L New England over Miami
L Cincinnati over Pittsburgh (this game was fricking mental)
W Baltimore over NY Jets
W New Orleans over Atlanta (way to blow it, Falcons)
W Kansas City over Arizona
L Tennessee over NY Giants
W Minnesota over Green Bay 
W LA Chargers over Las Vegas

WW TAMPA BAY over Dallas

L Denver over Seattle (felt weird hearing Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on MNF)

TNF: 0-1
Sunday early: 3-5-1
Sunday late: 3-1
SNF: 1-0
MNF: 0-1

Total: 7-8-1. I'm going to need to better if I'm to reach my goal of 175 wins for the season.

Well, that's it for the time being. I may be back later tonight with another entry after AEW Dynamite goes off the air. In the meantime, have a good rest of your Wednesday.

CT

Football Preview for 9/11 Weekend

 Greetings everyone. I have to split this into separate parts because dinner is soon, and I had other things going on today. But there are plenty of college games, as well as the NFL to get into, so let's get after it.

Before I dip into the college games, I have two special prep picks. In North Carolina, I have the Union Pines Vikings (Cameron) throttling and all but (as Matt Hardy would say) deleting the Saint Pauls Bulldogs. Yes, my former hometown. Why? Too much MAGA lunacy and narrow-mindedness in that town. The other game has Apopka (my alma mater) hopefully defeating Dr. Phillips in Florida high school action. 

In college action, two games on Friday kick off the weekend. I have UCF exacting revenge on Louisville for last year's embarrassment at Papa John's Stadium, and in a big upset, I'm taking New Mexico over Boise State since one Boise State alum really bummed me out this week, and probably led to me rant at the end of my last entry.

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I'm resuming this entry at 8:40 EDT, UCF leads 14-7, I have "Dare Me" on my Spotify (which means we'll get a dead dog dedication later tonight), and I'm ready to roll.

Went to Lowe's this morning with eldest sis to get some painting supplies since our other sister and her cousin (who is suffering from cancer) is coming around the end of this month, and she wants to have her bedroom repainted before they come. Anyway, at Lowe's today, I noticed this guy with a blue T-shirt that said, "White Lives Matter." Seriously. I'm as white as a ghost and I thought that shirt was ridiculous. Did I say something? No, I didn't want to create a scene and my sister was present. Did I want to say something? Kinda, but I knew he'd only escalate things from there, so I had to leave well enough alone. But that is some of the ridiculousness that happens in Spring Hill. Also in Spring Hill, they're acting the fool outside a Subway. Like I was telling my sister this evening over dinner, if I ever win the lottery, I'm moving away from Spring Hill, either back to Tampa, to Orlando, or North Carolina. Perhaps elsewhere, if things happen to break a certain way personally. Now that I've said that, I've probably jinxed myself into staying here, but we'll see.

Anyway, tomorrow we have a big matchup in the state between Florida and Kentucky, who last year, were the blind squirrel finding the nut as they beat Florida in Lexington for the first time since I was in junior high school; 1986. Ugh, the Galen Hall error. Anyway, Florida had a thrilling victory over Utah last week to open the season, and jumped all the way to #12 in the AP Poll. I'm sure the Gators will be looking for revenge tomorrow in the Swamp. Sorry Kaylee, but your kittycats won't survive tomorrow (she lives in Lexington).

Here's who I have tomorrow in the college slate:

#12 Florida over #20 Kentucky
Vanderbilt over #23 Wake Forest
#3 Ohio State over Arkansas State (why does their logo look like a wolf tripping on acid?)
Miami over Southern Miss
Penn State over Ohio
North Carolina over Georgia State
#1 Alabama over Texas
Northwestern over Duke
#16 Arkansas over Army
Memphis over Navy
Air Force over Colorado
#17 Pitt over #24 Tennessee
Iowa State over Iowa
Texas Tech over #25 Houston (I loathe their head coach, Dana Holgerson)
Illinois over Virginia
East Carolina over ODU
Virginia Tech over Boston College (BC lost to Rutgers, which in my opinion should get them booted from FBS)
#21 BYU over #9 Baylor

Now we come to Sunday's slate of NFL games, and this year once again, I won't have to go anywhere thanks to NFL RedZone Channel, and since the Bucs don't play until 8:20, I can keep it on that channel.

Anyway, here's who I have Sunday:

Detroit over Philadelphia in an upset special
Indianapolis over Houston
Carolina over Cleveland
San Francisco over Chicago
Washington over Jacksonville
New England over Miami
Cincinnati over Pittsburgh
Baltimore over NY Jets
New Orleans over Atlanta 😩
Kansas City over Arizona
Tennessee over NY Giants
Minnesota over Green Bay in another upset
LA Chargers over Las Vegas

TAMPA BAY over Dallas

Denver over Seattle. 

I stopped keeping record of how I was doing after idiot DeSantis shut down sports betting thanks to lawsuits (which he knew was going to happen when he signed the Seminole Compact, but he pushed it through anyway). So this season, I'll try to keep track of my pro picks. My goal is 175 wins, which equates to a .643 winning percentage. I don't know how that would work out if I were gambling, but it's a nice goal to have.

That's all I have for now, I might try to get my flashback segment done overnight. Until next time peeps.

More to come...

CT

NFL Preview...And Other Stuff

Good evening once again. I just finished what was a rather underwhelming episode of Dynamite considering what I talked about in my prior post and all the drama surrounding the fallout from All-Out. We did get to see MJF and we even were teased a face turn, then out came Jon Moxley, who said he was full of crap. Alas, he was, because MJF went full asshole for the remainder of the segment before storming off like a petulant four-year old. Moxley then cut an impassioned promo about what the AEW Championship meant to him and that industry. Speaking of which, there will be a tournament to deterine the champion, which will be crowned in two weeks at Arthur Ashe Stadium. 

But enough about wrestling, tomorrow is kinda like Christmas morning, or the first night of Hannukah, depending on if you observe/celebrate either. The NFL season gets underway with a potential Super Bowl LVII™ matchup between the Buffalo Bills and defending champion Los Angeles Rams. I think both these teams will be in the playoffs, although I don't exactly know why hardly anyone is picking the Rams to repeat. Buffalo, fwiw, is the odds-on favorite from the AFC to make it to Glendale for my birthday, and a twitter contact of mine, Rebecca Grant, will certainly be there cheering on her Bills. For tomorrow's game, I think the Rams pull it out at home in a close one.

As for the 2022 season, I don't see too much tumult and upheaval as compared to last season. As I said a couple of months ago, I picked the Bucs to win it all, and despite numerous injuries to the offensive line, I'm doubling down on that pick. I can understand why experts would not pick Tampa for the big game, but I don't understand them picking the Aints in the NFC South. Oh well, the Saints are probably my least favorite team along with the Eagles, because of personal reasons (I actually don't have a problem with them, just one Eagles fan is dating my crush). Anyway my playoff picks from the NFC are as follows:

South: Bucs

East: Cowboys

North: Packers

West: Rams

WC: Eagles 😒

WC: Saints 😒

WC: Vikings

The AFC will have a couple of changes next season as Pittsburgh will have an unusual down year now that Ben Roethlisberger is retired, and they're awaiting Kenny Pickett to fully develop as an NFL QB. The West will be a dogfight this year, with all four teams making legitimate claims to win that division. Here's who I have in the AFC:

East: Bills

South: Titans

North: Ravens

West: Broncos

WC: Chiefs

WC: Chargers
WC: Bengals

I think come February, it will be Tampa and Buffalo to meet in the desert, with Tampa winning it all.

Now onto other things. The other week I wrote briefly about effort. Well, lo and behold, someone actually stepped up the plate yesterday evening. But they chickened out and didn't send me a DM like I had asked. Folks, I don't know about you, but I am past the point of being sick and tired in the romance department. Just yesterday, someone who I had liked found someone else before I could even get a shot off. Did I have a realistic chance with her? No. But I see it as another loss, and I am sick of losing. Hell, with the exception of two six-week flings (one in 2001, the other in 2005), there has been nothing BUT losing, and if you've seen my posts on social media you know I'm fed up. Yes, I am still a bit bitter over what happened just two months ago, and I haven't really gotten over what happened in February. Just know that I'm almost to the point of no return, and I have had it...

Sorry this entry took a turn for the worse...

I hope to be back later this week, if not you'll know why...

CT

Tonight...

 If you're a wrestling fan, you might want to tune into "Dynamite" on TBS. Will CM Punk be fired from the company? How long have the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega been suspended for? What will happen now that MJF is back? I'll have more on this blog later tonight as well as my picks for the upcoming NFL season. Stay tuned...

CT

Fun With NGL...

 Hello again everyone. Tonight, I'd thought I'd change things up a little bit from what I usually write about. I thought I would answer some questions that have been posed to me anonymously from the NGL app (link to ask me questions, and to get your own, is on my twitter bio). Most of the questions that have been asked of me on this app has been pretty vanilla in nature. They haven't been as hard-hitting or profound and in-depth as I would like. Maybe if I spoke more about things that interest me, like sports or 80s music, or rasslin', I'd get more of those type of questions I suppose. But anyway, here are some of the best questions that have been asked of me so far.

Q: Who's your worst enemy?

A: At the time this was written, I was an emotional wreck, and that person knew who he was. But now that things have calmed down somewhat, he isn't an enemy per se. I do have an enemy that talks too damn much and quite frankly I don't acknowledge his existence. I'll leave it at that.

Q: Netflix and chill?

A: Not yet, but I plan on getting the service in a couple of months.

Q: What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?

A: I've had several, but one that stands out was when I was in Philly at the Museum of Art there, and I tripped trying to run up the steps there (also known as the "Rocky" steps). That was in August of 2016.

Q: What years were you in the service, and did you like it?

A: From 1992 to 1998 I served in the U.S. Navy. It was okay, but I think if I had followed my heart and not listened to my father and stepmother when I was 18, I would have taken a totally different career.

Q: What happened to you medically? 

A: Probably the most profound question I've been asked. In 2017 I had a stroke that left me with slight nerve damage and paralysis on my left side. I've recovered quite nicely; I am able to get around with a slight limp, but I do fall every once in a while. In fact, I had a slight spill last night. 

Q: How many exes do you have?

A: LOL. Good one. I don't really have an ex because I've never really been in a relationship. The closest thing I've had to an ex was probably my former roommate from over fifteen years ago that I'd rather not talk about anymore because she thinks TFG is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and most of you know how I feel about TFG...

Q: Have you ever gotten in a fist fight?

A: Believe it or not, none. One, despite me having a temper, I never was large enough to be involved in a physical confrontation. Two I prefer to have my freedom that be locked up for the night, if you know what I mean.

Q: When was your first kiss?

A: I think it was when I was 17 with a redhead whose name escapes me. My first French kiss came after my 20th birthday unfortunately.

Some questions have been asked of me on more than one occasion. Like if I have any pets (I don't right now), and what my age is. Most people know that I'm 48, but one time I decided to be a smart-ass and answered 23 because someone asked me what my age was again. Thank, Mark, Tom, or Travis. Sometimes I don't get a question; I'll get a statement such as "you're cute" or "you're (a) best friend." Well, thank you. The beauty (and curse) of this format is that these questions are anonymous, but I do know who I WISH sent me some of those questions. One of those persons tends bar and has beautiful red hair. The other one is an aspiring singer out in the LA area. That's all I'll say as far as that is concerned. Some questions are better off not being answered, such as who on Twitter IO want to bang the most. Or a secret that I kept hidden from my parents. Anyway, I have fun answering questions on this app, so keep the questions coming, and I'll hope that some of the questions are from someone with the opposite initials as my nickname.

Until later this week.

CT

Flashback Friday, September

 Hello again everyone. Got off to a bit of a late start to this post, had an errand to help out with and had to catch up on other things. But I'm here to take you back to a rather weird year in pop music in my opinion, 1994. A little bit about me during that timeframe, I was about to begin my fourth month aboard the USS Eisenhower back then, and we had already made a port visit to Puerto Rico, where I would meet someone that unfortunately wouldn't last, oh well. Without further ado, here were the top 40 CHR pop songs according to Radio & Records magazine for the week ending September 2, 1994:

40. I'd Give Anything by Gerald Levert

39. Games People Play by Inner Circle. Is Inner Circle still getting royalties off "Bad Boys?"

38. All I Want Is You by U2

37. Basket Case by Green Day. Got tons of airplay on MTV as I recall

36. Good Times by Edie Brickell

35. You Gotta Be by Des'ree. This song was only in its third week back then, but would be on this chart until next summer...

34. Fantastic Voyage by Coolio. Wildly popular on the pop station I listened to at the time, which wouldn't be a pop station by the time I got back from deployment to the Mediterranean/Middle East six months later.

33. I'll Be Loving You by Collage. One of the last hits from the early-90s freestyle era to garner airplay on the radio.

32. Right Beside You by Sophie B. Hawkins. I remember when Tampa radio personality and blowhard extraordinaire MJ Kelli said that this was a big hit for Sophie back then; it didn't reach the top fifteen you fricking tool...

31. Another Night by Real McCoy. They had an amazing one-year run, then they faded off into Bolivia (as Mike Tyson once said), didn't they? 

30. Far Behind by Candlebox. A pretty decent track, and a former favorite of the closest thing I have to an ex, which is one of the few good things I have to say about her.

29. I'm The Only One by Melissa Etheridge. I recall WNOR (the rock station in Norfolk at the time) creating a parody song off this that definitely wouldn't fly today.

28. Mr. Jones by Counting Crows. I loved this song. Did they wind up being big stars though? 

27. I'll Stand By You by the Pretenders. The band's last chart single wound up being their biggest hit. Should have gone to #1 though.

26. Letitgo by Prince

25. December 1963 by The Four Seasons. This was a remixed and updated version from Ben Liebrand of their hit from eighteen years prior that got tons of airplay.

24. Back & Forth by Aaliyah. God rest her soul.

23. I Swear by All-4-One. I don't like country music, but this one I have to give the nod to John Michael Montgomery instead of the knockoff version by All-4-One.

22. Lucky One by Amy Grant

21. 100% Pure Love by Crystal Waters. The enlisted club in at the Navy Base there used to play the shit out of this song.

20. You Mean The World To Me by Toni Braxton. For once, I would love to hear that said about me...

19. Come To My Window by Melissa Etheridge. This and "Mr. Jones" were spending their 29th week on the top 40 chart this particular week, which was is a frigging eternity back in 1994, but is somewhat commonplace today.

18. Anytime, Anyplace by Janet Jackson. The video made me drool over Janet, but we wouldn't see the goods until nine years later thanks to Justin Timberlake. Thats two career he's helped ruin. F*** him.

17. Always by Erasure

16. Until I Fall Away by Gin Blossoms. Nice change of pace track by an underrated band.

15. Anytime You Need A Friend by Mariah Carey. Would any chart be from the 90s if Mariah didn't at least make one appearance. By the way, this was before THAT DAMNED SONG was released. You know which one I'm talking about.

14. Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden. Arguably the best song in my opinion for that summer.

13. If You Go by Jon Secada

12. Prayer For The Dying by Seal

11. Round Here by Counting Crows. Their follow-up to "Mr. Jones," kind of a sad song actually.

10. You Better Wait by Steve Perry. Advice that Matt Gaetz should have taken a while ago...

  9. Crazy by Aerosmith. Before "Clueless," Alicia Silverstone starred in Aerosmith videos. This one included Liv Tyler. 💘

  8. All I Wanna Do by Sheryl Crow. What was her fixation with Tuesdays anyway?

  7. When Can I See You by Babyface. Actually, the question should be, "when can you see me?"

  6. Can You Feel The Love Tonight by Elton John. Now I have visions of "The Lion King" in my head, hakuna matata.

  5. Shine by Collective Soul. Their breakout hit that they would ride out for the duration of the mid-90s.

  4. Don't Turn Around by Ace of Base. I swear you couldn't avoid that group in 1994. The next time there was such a Swedish invasion was Ikea.

  3. Wild Night by John Mellencamp f/ Michelle Ndegeocello. A much better version than Van Morrison's 1971 track (which for some reason the "pop" station in Charleston, SC played in favor over Mellencamp's version, I suspect racism on the part of the owners of that station. I can't prove it though...

  2. I'll Make Love To You by Boys II Men. Another group you couldn't avoid in 1994.

...and the number one song this date twenty-eight years ago was...

 1. Stay (I Missed You) by Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories. I think in another universe, Lisa Loeb was a woman who I could have had a chance with...

...except she doesn't have red hair.

So, there was your flashback for this week. I'll probably be writing again sometime around midnight after "SmackDown" and "Rampage" are done for the night. Until later...

CT

Glorious Day Yesterday...

 Good morning, everyone except you Sarah Palin. A few brief words this morning because the biggest fun sponge in history has a hair up her ass and wants to get a project done today, and it involves paint. Anyway, that doesn't take away what a good day it was yesterday. First and foremost, the aforementioned Sarah Palin lost her election yesterday. Translation: Alaskans are (and have long been) fed up with Palin's shit; she should have stuck to being a sports anchor on television up there. Is this the end of the MAGA movement? Unfortunately, not by a long shot. However, this poses good news come the midterms coming up in two short months. In the meantime, let's all sing along...Na-na na na, na-na na na, hey, hey, hey, goodbye (and good riddance)!

Also yesterday, Serena continued her swansong with a resounding defeat of #2 Anett Kontaviet of Estonia. Judging from the energy of the New York crowd for her first two matches, I wouldn't be too shocked if that energy alone carries her to the final, where I hope she wins. There were even some points last evening where I was vociferously cheering at my television; I can't remember the last time I did that over a tennis match. 

In addition to the above items, Orlando City got a last second goal to beat Seattle in MLS action, Tampa Bay completed a mini-sweep over the Marlins, and we got our main event for All Out on Sunday night; Jon Moxley will indeed face CM Punk for the AEW World Title.

Today is the first day of September, and the first meaningful day of college football, with a couple of big matchups tonight, including the resumption of the Backyard Brawl between Pittsburgh and West Virginia. This used to be an annual game until Pittsburgh left the Big East for the ACC, while West Virginia left for the greener pastures of the...BIG 12?! Weird flex, but okay. The schools haven't met on the gridiron in eleven years, so it should be a dandy in the Steel City.

Also, Penn State faces Purdue in a nationally televised tilt on Fox. Here are my picks for some of tonight's games:

Pittsburgh over West Virginia
UCF over SC State
Tennessee over Ball State
Wake Forest over VMI
Purdue over Penn State
Oklahoma State over Central Michigan (remember the LAST time they played?)

Tomorrow, I may have two entries, including a flashback to a year that has yet to be determined. I'll have to roll my magic wayback D20 to figure that out. In the meantime, have a wonderful Thursday.

CT