2010 NFL Playoffs - Wildcard Weekend

OK, the 2010 NFL Playoffs kick off today and like most degenerates I too have bets in place. Last week I listed the games and the lines as they were first posted:

Saturday Jan 9th, 2010

New York Jets @ Cincinnati Bengals(-3)
Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys (-4)

Sunday Jan 10th, 2010

Baltimore Ravens @ New England Patriots (-3.5)
Green Bay Packers @ Arizona Cardinals (-2.5)

Here's how they look now:

Saturday Jan 9th, 2010

New York Jets @ Cincinnati Bengals(-3)
Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys (-3.5)

Sunday Jan 10th, 2010

Baltimore Ravens @ New England Patriots (-3.5)
Green Bay Packers @ Arizona Cardinals (+1.5)

New York Jets @ Cincinnati Bengals(-3)
I have the Bengals -3 for 4 Units. Last week was last week & the Bengals weren't playing for much. Cincy showed them nothing on defense and as such Sanchez did not have to convert many 3rd & longs. Cincy will have two starters back on the D-line that were rested/injured last week and they have two shut down corners as well. I don't see the Jets being able to move the ball very well, if at all. Plus there's the rookie QB on the road thing. This line should be closer to -6 or -7, but last week's game really seemed to captivate the public. Plus the NY casual gambler has come out to play this weekend.

Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys (-3.5)
I got Philly here at +4 for 1 Unit. The Eagles seem to play their best when The City of Brotherly Love is spewing venom on them. I don't think the Dallas stadium intimidates them and I also don't think they showed the Cowboys much last week. I think this will be a close one, but it could go either way. This will be a tough loss to take for whoever that is and as a neutral fan it will be interesting.

Baltimore Ravens @ New England Patriots (-3.5)
The Ravens @ +3.5 for 3 Units. I like Baltimore to come out of this game straight up so of course I will take the points. Gillette Stadium isn't the Fortress it used to be. Flacco just needs his receivers to stop dropping very catch-able passes. Welker is out as well. I know you never say never when Brady is involved, but I just really like Baltimore here despite the coast to coast travel (Oakland).

Green Bay Packers @ Arizona Cardinals (+1.5)
I have the Cardinals here on 2 bets. 1 Unit to win straight up and 1.5 Units @ +1.5. Green Bay is playing great right now and they came into Arizona last week and killed. That being said, do you think Arizona showed them anything? Anything at all like what they will showcase tomorrow? Nope. Once Minny won early, the Cards shut it down and went vanilla. Way different story this week. The public has moved this line 4 points to where Arizona is now a home dog. This is a combo of a few things...last week's game, some notable injuries to a couple of Arizona players (Boldin & Rodgers-Cromartie), the general public loving to bet GB. I am happy to take advantage of this by countering with a non-100% Charles Woodson along with Al Harris being out, the head-coaching advantage (football IQ) of Whisenhunt over McCarthy and the fact that the Cardinals are a very solid team on all sides of the ball.

Now I would not be surprised if Green Bay wins this game. There is no doubt they have the talent to do it and that would set up a mouth watering Favre 3.0 for next weekend. I mention this because of another bet I made as a hedge. Before the season started I made a bet with an avid Packers fan for $25 that they would not make it to the Super Bowl. I gave him 4:1 odds. He could have got better odds pretty much anywhere else. Whatever. I have put $11 on the Pack to win the NFC Championship. It pays out at $121. I was able to use his money to basically buy insurance and thus guarantee a profit no matter which way things shake out.

OK. That's it for now. As a tribute to the playoffs and the many different scenarios that can play out check out the Grateful Dead's So Many Roads for 1994 in Las Vegas no less. I have been on such a kick with this song lately especially after have heard the Furthur version from NYE. Wow, So Many Roads to ease my soul for sure!




Good luck this week & be good to each other.
-mrjackstraw

A Sunday Show > NS Bows Out > Hampton Pics

Another fine Sunday here in the T-dot. So, what shall we discuss...

First a wonderful Grateful Dead show courtesy of the archive. This is a March 15, 1990 show from the Capital Center in Landover, MD. The spring tour of 1990 will always make deadheads wonder what might have been if Brent wouldn't have OD'd that August taking away the finest singing voice that band has ever had. Highlights from this show include the Jack Straw, Sugaree opening combo, Althea and a superb Terrapin Station. The link above will take you where you need to be. Spark one up and enjoy!

This whole tour raged with highlights being the Copps Coliseum back-to-backs from Hamilton, ON (one of the best Scarlet/Fire's), but the real gem happened on this writer's birthday, March 29, 1990 @ the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island where Brantford Marsalis joined the Dead for the first time adding his improvisational saxophone skills that worked magically on Bird Song, Dark Star and Eyes of the World (Without a Net version).

The Brier - The final is set. Kevin Martin and his Alberta rink will be playing at home tonight vs Jeff Stoughton's Manitoba rink. Manitoba got by Ontario last night and Stoughton probably managed to give them all a cold in turn. If a bunch of you Ontarians come down with something this week, just look left to Manitoba and give 'em one of these:




As for Kris Granchelli, Lead stone thrower for next year's host province Nova Scotia, well let's just say that we're awfully proud of him. I don't curl, but I do know some things. First, Canada is the best at this sport. Period. The Brier is filled with past champions, World Champions and Olympic Champions, some of them multiple winners of these titles. I know Kris and his teammates were looking for a better record than the 2-9 they finished at, but we/they should keep things in perspective. It's been a great experience for the entire team to play on this stage. If you haven't done it before it can be tough with the crowd sizes, TV cameras & lights, expectations from back home, etc. Now I know Dacey has been there and done that, but this is a team game and successful teams need to grow. Besides, curlers seem to age gracefully. This isn't the NBA. I think we'll see Mr. Granchelli on TV again.

Kris Granchelli Tim Horton's Brier Final Stats:

Overall: 83% (Ranked 10/12 for Leads)
Best Game: 91%
Worst Game: 76%
Positional +/-: -1 (Ranked 7/12 for Leads)



The teams is pictured from left to right: Mark Dacey, Bruce Lohnes, Andrew Gibson, and Kris Granchelli. You wouldn't know it, but Kris probably shaved less than 2 hours before that photo was taken.

All kidding aside this has been a great accomplishment for Kris. He has talked about this for a long time and to be honest, I was never sure if he was serious or just full of shit. I couldn't be happier that he was able to straighten me out on that. Will I now have to hear about this forever? It's a Shore Thing!!

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I just entered a poker tourney of Party. The results have just not been there for me lately. I've been able to build some nice stacks early, but the wheels seem to fall off as I approach the money or just get into it. It has actually happened a lot with AQ lately and I think I need to take a harder look at how I play this hand, especially vs someone that can bounce me. Last night I called a re-raise with AQ sooooted right before the money bubble. I had between 15-20 BBs left at the time and didn't have to go it's just that the raise came from a steal spot and I was SB. I really didn't want to play the hand out of position. The thing is there are not many hands besides a bluff that I am ahead of. No pairs. Versus AK & AA I am was dominated.

Just got bounced. I'm in BB with 20+ BBs in my stack. I got QQ. There are 3 callers before it gets back to me so I pop it to $600 hoping to get it 1-on-1. This happens when I get re-popped and now have to call an all-in for my stack. I don't put him on AA or KK or even AK because at this level I think he would have bumped it up first time around. I call pretty confident I'm ahead, hoping to see JJ or TT. He flips over KJo (what?) and of course spikes a K on the turn. GG mrjackstraw. See ya next time. Fuck.

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In case you don't know what Phish does, here's a peek into that wonderful little world:




Skills to Pay the Bills

Happiness is...

You Enjoy Myself

Mothership Command Center

Blast off!

Trey is a Jedi


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Looks like I'm going into my fantasy hockey playoffs with the #1 or #2 seed which gets me a 1st round bye and directly into the top 4 where 3/4 get paid. I like it. I've also just got Brodeur and Vanek back from injury so I enter the playoffs with a fairly healthy team front to back. Not turning my goaltending depth into a top flight centre may come back to haunt me. I tried. Finding a dance partner is hard sometimes. Deadhead Express is gonna roll!!!!!!!


Althea just came on. Love that tune. This space is getting hot!!!

JJ's coming by today for a little Tiger Woods golf on the Wii. Should be a blast. Fuck I love Sunday's!

-mrjackstraw