Good morning, everyone, and yes, I did remember the 21st night of September. You know, for a stretch about a decade ago (thanks to Pandora and Spotify) that I discovered and started listening to European symphonic rock metal. Groups such as Nightwish (who was the impetus for my discovery, thanks to YTMND.com), Lacuna Coil, Sirenia, Within Temptation, and The Birthday Massacre. One such group I gravitated to was a Dutch outfit named Delain, who had a lead singer that I found automatically attractive in Charlotte Wessels, who had red hair (of utmost importance) and kinda resembled a woman I was somewhat interested in at the time.
A few years ago, around the time of my stroke, I sort of let that phase go. Then last night as I was thinking about my somewhat estranged love interest(?) and friend I thought about a song from Sirenia ("The Path To Decay") and so I fired up my long-lost playlist that contained Delain on Spotify.
Well Spotify now has a feature on their app that gives "about the artist" information, and to my surprise, when a Delain song came up, the band was pictured with a new lead singer. WHAT?! I had to do a little digging to find out what happened to my red-headed songbird. Turns out she wasn't fired from the band dissolved temporarily, and Wessels decided to launch a solo career. Well crap. At least their songs from the 2010s still live on.
Now for Week Three, otherwise known as Philly Hate Week, so of course, my sisters brought home a Philly Cheesesteak for lunch Thursday.
really, sisters???
The week got off to a good start with the 49ers throttling the Giants. And I joke that this is Philly Hate Week, but seriously, can we stop with the unnecessary violence in the stands? I mean last week there were two donnybrooks amongst fans, one involving Texans fans and one involving Patriots and Dolphins fans, in which a man actually lost his life. As Ryan Leaf said about a quarter century ago, knock it off.
Sunday's slate of games do not include the Bucs, because they're on Monday Night Football. One intriguing matchup pits the Buffalo Bills against the Washington Commanders. Buffalo looked like their regular selves in dismantling the Raiders 38-10 last week, where the unbeaten Commies rallied from 21-3 down and survived a two-ponit conversion attempt (after a successful Hail Mary) to down Denver 35-33. I kind of expect a shootout between Josh Allen's Bills and Eric Bienemy's Washington offense, but I think Buffalo knocks Washington from the ranks of the unbeaten.
Here are my picks for Sunday:
BUF over WSH
NE over NYJ
MIA over DEN
TEN over CLE
BAL over IND
DET over ATL
GB over NO
MIN over LAC
JAX over HOU
SEA over CAR
KC over CHI
DAL over AZ
PIT over LV
Now onto Monday night, where for a second straight week we have a doubleheader of sorts. In the 8:15 game on ESPN, we have a rematch of Super Bowl 56, as the LA Rams face the Cincinnati Bengals. You think that loss to the Rams still sticks in Bengals fans craw? I think what's more concerning from a Cincinnati standpoint is the status of Joe Burrow's calf. That and how to stop Matthew Stafford's new favorite receiver. I know the Cats have started slowly the past two seasons, but Burrow's injury gives this game, and this season, new urgency for Bengals fans. Hopefully Burrow can revert to form and lead the Bengals to a close victory at home, so I'm picking the Bengals.
Now for the main event, the Eagles-Bucs game on ABC, the only matchup of unbeaten teams this week. The Eagles have somewhat underwhelmed in their first two games, albeit wins. The Bucs meanwhile are off to their third straight 2-0 start, something that hasn't happened in that franchise's 47-year history, and this may be the most surprising 2-0 start of the three. Especially for a team that had little expectations going in to 2023. But don't say that to me, or most other Bucs fans. Hell, we're kind of riding high not only with the Bucs start, but the announcement that the Rays are getting a new stadium. Hell, life is good, no great in Tampa Bay! Oh, by the way, new Hall of Famer Ronde Barber (who Eagles fans still have nightmares over) is getting honored at halftime! So, I'm going with the Buccaneers with the upset victory on MNF.
For the college slate:
Florida State over Clemson
Oklahoma over Cincinnati
Michigan over Rutgers
Syracuse over Army
Oregon over Colorado
Ole Miss over Alabama (upset special)
Utah over UCLA
Maryland over Michigan State
Miami over Temple
Louisville over Boston College
Duke over UConn
Rice over South Florida
East Carolina over Gardner-Webb
Wake Forest over Georgia Tech
Florida over Charlotte
Appalachian State over Wyoming
Penn State over Iowa
Notre Dame over Ohio State
Kansas State over UCF 😒
North Carolina over Pittsburgh.
Hopefully this week will be as good as last enjoy the games this weekend!
BS
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