Shotcallin' - Week 8

Just go away, please.

What happens when real life interveins and you (what up, 'Jesse'!) get no Sues for a week? You end up with our unsolicited opinion on the week that was in sports...

**As I type this, the Rays are up 5-0 in Game 5 of the ALCS, three innings away from the World Series. I still say the Sox have a 10% of winning this damn series.**

**And right now, Craig Sager is interviewing Chuck Lamar, the former GM of the Devil Rays (as well as the Braves' former director of scouting) and current Phillies Director of Scouting. Sager keeps pointing out how he built this fine Rays team as poor Lamar grits his teeth and gives the same answers about being happy for the Rays and their organization. Bullshit. Look at that grin on his face as Sager mentions he made the Scott Kazmir deal. "That's right motherfucker, now let me get back to watching these guys play in 20 degree weather so I can go home and write scouting reports for the next six days while the current Rays administration gets all the credit from you assholes."**

**Oh JEE-ZUS...the Sox are bringing Papelbon in here in the 7th....their chances of winning this are kaput. Oh well...enjoy your inevitable Bruins title next summer, Bahsthan fans.**

How fucking happy is Roy Williams? You get to move from arguably the worst franchise in the NFL to the most talented and highest-profile. Oh really, and you grew up in Texas? You went to college there as well? Even better! And you just got a new deal, $20mil guaranteed? Just go ahead and tell me your tapping this and twist the knife a lil' deeper, man.

Regarding Pacman...whatever. He's become a joke and a punchline now; not even worth talking about. My only thoughts whenever Pacman gets in trouble are that while he continues to exist as a general menace to multiple human beings he interacts with, Michael Vick remains broke in a prison cell for harming dogs. What a country.

You too. Btw, is there a better Pacman pic than this? Impossible.

One more note on Williams/Pacman/Cowboys. The Cowboys gave up a boatload for RoyDub. A first, third and seventh rounder? For a guy who's injury prone and exceeded 850 receiving yards once in his career? That's a steep price, but when you're the Cowboys and you're sniffing a super bowl, and oh yeah, you're printing your own cash, you can do these things. Anyways, I wonder if this news helped them feel better about making the deal. That worked out well. I'm going with Pacman screwing over 5 NFL teams before he's out of the L for good. Lawrence Phillips ain't got shit on him.

Okay, one more: If you're a lucky enough bastard to own Roy Williams in a fantasy league, enjoy. It might not pay off immediately, what with the whole "Brad Johnson/Tony-Romo-with-four-fingers" era about to start, but for the last few weeks of the fantasy season and the playoffs, you're gonna be owning a baller. With that in mind, if you're in a league with a bunch of idiots, try like hell to trade for Williams in two weeks after he puts up about 3-5 points in his first game or two. You won't regret it.

**Are you kidding me? I just stepped outside to smoke a cig, come back in and the Rays lead is cut to 7-4?!?! I knew it. Ugh...**

I love how this required an actual story, as if there was something to report. Hey, you know who else is doing the exact same thing? EVERY OTHER FUCKING TEAM IN BASEBALL.

Why the hell are the Padres considering trading Jake Peavy? You have a Top 3 starting pitcher, 27 years old, who's signed to a (relatively) reasonable contract through 2013. I guess checkin' the market is smart, but they wouldn't really trade him would they? The fine folks at Chop Talk think otherwise, but I hope the Braves do whatever it takes to land this guy. Forget paying Sabathia, Sheets, Burnett or Lowe 15-20mil a season for the next 5. I'd rather be paying Peavy 13+mil/yr over that same range. This isn't a Texiera type deal where you are putting all your cards in one basket for a season...this is acquiring a stud #1 starter in his prime for below market value. If Jordan Schaffer is the holdup, then

**Hold that thought. JD Drew. Homerun. 7-6. I feel like I'm in my fraternity house room four years ago watching the aftermath of Dave Roberts' stolen base. Only minus the $350 in Olive Garden tips I had on that series. So basically, an infinitely better place. Nevermind.**

Forget the rest of my Peavy rant...just get him. Trade whoever. When you're operating with a limited budget, you make moves like this instead of going all-in against the Yanks/Sox/Angles/etc. in the free agent market. It would be the best Braves trade since Freddie Mac fifteen years ago.

Ho..shit. TCU just upset BYU? Does it make me a failure as a blogger that I forgot this game was going on? I'd say the fact we're presiding over a blog my mom wouldn't even read is a larger indicator, but either way, the answer is yes. Good for TCU. And, daaamn, BYU. Gotta remove the heavyweights from your schedule if you wanna play with the big boys.

I just clicked over to ESPN/ESPN2 to see if the FSU/NCState game or BYU/TCU got top billing. All I saw was a feature on Colt McCoy and motocross. Needless to say I won't be checking in on those channels the rest of the night.

I'm sorry, anyone who thinks Kobe, LeBron or whoever will go over to Greece to ball for stacks and stacks (and boats and houses and whores and stacks) of cash is insane. It's just not happening. You know what happens if one of those guys leads Olympiakos to a title? Nothing. If it's lucky, it makes SportCenter before the first commercial. They'll also be popular as hell in Greece (pop. 11,214,992)...and that's all well and good. But when those guys retire, they're coming back to the U.S. (pop. 305,425,000). And in the U.S., where those guys will live the rest of their lives, they will get no respect or admiration from fans for owning with Olympiakos. They will not be considered in all-time "greatest-ever" NBA debates. These guys already have more money than they could ever possibly spend. If you want to be a "global icon" there is no better place to do that than America (ask half the NHL, Asian baseball players, David Beckham, or, uh, NBA Europeans why they leave home to play in America). There is no reason for them to go ball in Europe.

**7-7. I'm now 50/50 the Sox are winning this series. Screw it, back to college football.**

Missouri (+7) over Texas - $10 - I've thought Mizzou was overrated all season long, and I picked Okie State last week (won't talk about our remaining picks), but even I think this line is too high. The Tigers showed they can keep up offensively with anyone out there, and that alone should prevent them from ever getting too far behind. This one's going down to the wire, and I have no idea who's going to win (Gun to my leg, I'm choosing Texas; gun to my head, I'm pissin' my pants).

**JD Drew. Game-winning hit. 8-7, final. UGGGH NOT AGAIN. Way to seal the deal, Rays...every World Series team has games where they blow seven-run leads in the final three innings. Should be easy to bounce back from. Also, following last year's abysimal regular season, Drew really has become the Sawx most consistant threat in their lineup, no? The guy is just a professional motherfucking hitter (who is also about as fragile as an anemic ladybug). And don't you love those PASSIONATE, TRUE, DIEHARD BoSox fans leaving after the 7th inning? Go make fun of fans in L.A. or Atlanta some more, jerkwads.**

Alright, enough for tonite. Back tomorrow with the rest of our picks...

...and here we are!

Miami/Duke (UNDER 43.5) - $10 Miami (-3) over Duke - $20 - This has got to be a sucker's bet. The line doesn't even look right on paper. I mean, sure, Miami ain't Miami anymore, but did you see Duke play Tech a few weeks ago? Yech.

Tennessee/MissState (UNDER 37) - $10 - Let's just say if they're going to hit the number it's going to either be because Tennessee's offense magically clicks this week or Eric Berry takes a few to the house. The Croomson Dogs sniff the end zone only by accident, it seems.

Virginia Tech (+3.5) over Boston College - $10 - (Note from OBJ: Every time we count or bet on VaTech we lose, except when we were counting on them to crawl up their own buttholes in the second half of the (2006 Peachbowl?). Zing! Let's turn this trend around VaTech!)

Texas A&M (+21) over Texas Tech - $10 - Yeah, I know you should never take the points with a really bad team. However, I don't think this Texas Tech team is very good. Top 20 team? Maybe. Giving three touchdowns on the road to a conference foe? Hell no.

USC (-43) over Washington St. - $10 - I mean it's bad enough Wazzu had to hold open tryouts to get an extra QB on the roster. That's one thing. In the aftermath of the Harrick years, UGA's basketball team did similarly. But there's a pretty good shot that this guy will play this year, after ANOTHER Washington State QB went down against Oregon State last week. Just pencil me in for betting against Wazzou every game, rest of the season...until Vegas makes them their first team from a BCS conference to have their games taken off the board.

LSU (-3) over South Carolina - $15 - Add "run defense" under "quarterbacks" on the list of LSU's weaknesses. Still, the Tigers can't be that bad, right? It's one thing to lose @ the Swamp against Tebow, Harvin and Co. It's another to lose to The Artist Formerly Known as the Ol' Ball Coach and Stephen Garcia in Columbia.

Can't figure out the Georgia spread...though if it hits 17, pounce on Vandy like a cat in heat on a waterbed (Trust me). As always, stop by Hey Jenny Slater, Dawg-Gone Blawg, and the View From 336 for all your X'n and O'in.

OBJ's Inferior Picks:

Pitt (-1.5) over Navy

Ole Miss (+13) over Alabama

(Ok...that's all, feel free to stop reading now...)

Last Week: 1-6

Inferior Picks: 2-3

2008 Record: 30-27-1

2008 Pot: $85