bluecompass

@vanzack

 Just curious about the status of your house in Asheville.  We go up to Avery County every year to get our Christmas tree.  This year we loaded up a bobcat and some chain saws and spent a couple of days up there clearing trees and debris.  People really are still living in tents up there.

@DefenseWinsSB

 Here's what you should do:  Go back and read EVERY SINGLE POST you've ever made on this site about losing your a$$ and quitting.  Then read them again.  AND AGAIN.  AND AGAIN!!!!  Print them out and post them all over your house - on the bathroom mirror, on the TV, etc...  Read them while you're brushing your teeth or drinking coffee or trying to find Family Guy on the TV. Keep reading them over and over and over again until you're actually ready to quit, and then do that.  If you have the urge to bet again, go back and read them again.  And in between reading all those posts over and over again, get yourself a job man, even if it's at McD's flipping burgers.  Force yourself to be productive - gambling isn't productive for you.  Own that fact.  If you can't own it, go back and re-read all of your posts AGAIN!

So it's no secret, I'm a Clemson fan.  Here's a couple of my thoughts about the playoff selections, whatever that's worth, probably nothing, but anyway:

First - so, under the current system, a premium is given to conference champions, well, most of them.  The top 4 get the top 4 seeds and an automatic bye - great.  Why is the 5th conference champion not automatically given the 5 seed?  Either we should put a premium on winning a conference championship for ALL conference championship teams, or we shouldn't give any of them any reward for winning their conference.  And for the record, I agree, Clemson didn't deserve a bye.

Second - I understand putting a value on winning a conference championship, but you do so at the expense of having the best 12 teams in the playoffs.  Isn't that what it should be about - finding out which team is the best?  You've got several inferior teams in the mix, and some much better teams left out completely.  I say give the first 4 seeds and automatic byes to the 4 highest ranked teams - conference champions or not, and give the remaining 8 seeds to the teams ranked 5-12.  And a team like Clemson, that wins a conference championship, but is clearly not one of the best 12 teams, should be left out.

Third - Is Alabama better than SMU and Boise State and AZ State and Indiana?  Yes.  However, Alabama couldn't find a way to beat Vandy, so they really have no one to blame but themselves.  Same with SC, MIA and Ole Miss.

Fourth - If the committee doesn't take into account strength of schedule, which it appears they don't, at least not with any meanful weight, then I think it's bad for college football overall.  This is especially true for the fans, because we're not going to see as many regular season big games played between highly ranked teams, which is what the fans want to see.  There's no real reason for 2 really good non-conference schools to play each other now.  Indiana played no one, except OSU, where they got destroyed, and there they are with the 10th seed.

Fifth - In my view, the college game needs to move rapidly in 1 of 2 directions:  Either get rid of conferences altogether or go back to having 8 FBS conferences, with all 8 conference champions making the playoffs, with 4 at-large teams.  With NIL and the transfer portal can of worms already opened up, getting rid of conferences is probably the way to go.

Sixth - No matter how many teams they allow into the playoffs, someone will always be the odd man out. 

Seventh - the committee is made up of 13 members, and a lot of them are current ADs, ex-coaches, etc...  Perhaps we'd be better off expanding the committee to 25 members, with at least 12 of them not having a college athletic background.  Get a stat geek from MIT, a psychology prof from Stanford, a janitor from Ball State and maybe a a diesel mechanic from Cheyenne - these people would offer every bit as valuable insight and opinion as the current committee members do.

FWIW, this is the 2nd time this season the Bills have fit the Bator rule.  In Week 2, they beat MIA 31-10, in Week 3 they beat JAX 47-10, and in Week 4 they got killed by BAL.

I think the line opened at +11.5.  I got it at +11.  If I can get a home team in a division game with double digit points, I'm gonna take it every time.

TEN -14.5

ALA -21.5

The Vols are coming off an ugly road loss to Arkansas, where they scored just 14 points.  The Vols offense looked terrible and they were shutout in the first half.  I think the TEN offense shows out tonight at home against Florida.  

The Tide are coming off one of the biggest upsets in CFB history, and their defense gave up 40 pts to Vandy.    The Tide defense is going to wreak havoc in the SC backfield. 

Now is the time for both of these teams to make a statement, especially at home, and especially before they face each other in Knoxville next weekend.

GL

@Greenandwhite23

Dude, why do you keep jacking up my sandwich order.  Smoked turkey with dijon on wheat is difficult?  Apparently it is, because you bring me a ham and cheese on rye.  And then you have the nerve to ask me for a tip so you can put air in your bike tire.  Get my order right the next time and I might let you use the air compressor in my garage. 

The Saints have a rough schedule coming up.  At DAL, then home against PHI, then @ATL, @KC and home against TB.

They also have an aging team.  Carr - 33, Kamara - 29, Taysom Hill - 34, Cam Jordan - 35, D. Davis - 35, Nate Shepard - 30, Mathieu - 32

My book has the NYY/CHC game set at 8.

Last night, LJ rushed 16 times, 3 more than Derrick Henry.  Was that the game plan coming in?  Is that the plan moving forward?  You go and pay the guy $250 million guaranteed and then have him run the ball 16 times?  Dude is going to turn 28 years old before the end of this season.  With as much wear and tear he's already had in 6 seasons, every hit from now on is going to start adding up fast.  Especially since he's dropped some weight - he might be even quicker but also less durable?  Yeah, a couple of those runs last night were scrambles, but still.  A running QB is not going to get you to the promised land in the NFL.   Why don't teams realize this? And if they keep running him like this, he'll prolly miss another 4-6 games this season with injuries.

BAL went out and got Henry, but they didn't utilize him last night.  How many screen passes did LJ throw to Henry?  1-2?  He had 0 catches last night and got only 13 touches.  Henry caught 60+ balls over the previous 2 seasons combined, and BAL can't even put him in the flat as a relief valve for LJ every once in awhile?

I smell another 10 win season and a quick exit from the playoffs.

Ruh-Roh

Before you argue with someone, ask yourself "Is this person mentally mature enough to grasp the concept of different perspectives?" If not, there's no point to argue.

The worst waste of time is arguing with the fool and fanatic who does not care about truth or reality, but only the victory of his beliefs and illusions. There are people who, no matter how much evidence is presented to them, are not in the capacity to understand, and others are blinded by ego, hatred and resentment, and all they want is to be right even if they are not.  When ignorance screams, intelligence is silent. Your peace and quiet are worth more.

They've been messing with it for more than a year now and lots of people have complained, but nothing ever gets done about it.  For example in MLB, they don't include WHIP stats anywhere - not on the matchup pages, not on the individual pitcher pages, nowhere.  This is one of the most important stats when handicapping MLB.  It's almost as if they are intentionally making the match-up pages very user-unfriendly.  Gee, I wonder why they would do that?  It's almost as though they have a vested interest in people losing...

I grabbed Carolina at +1200 to win the NFC South - I think there's a ton of value there.  

Here's a deeper dive - Leo Mazzone with Tom Glavine and John Smoltz.

I think the USA we grew up loving is basically gone and has been gone for awhile now.  IMO, the downfall of the middle class started in the 90s with the passage of NAFTA.  Then the 24 "news cycle" added fuel to the fire.  Combine that with the extreme cultural upheaval that took place that destroyed many of our traditions.  And now we're more divided than ever politically.  We've gotten to a point where for many folks, their political ideology seems to define them as an individual, and that's just sad.   It has taken some time, but I think people are starting to question whether our country in its current form is even worth fighting for anymore.  After thinking about it a lot, I'm not sure that it is.

I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who regrets not getting the jab.

At +151, the juice isn't worth the squeeze IMO.  If it was closer to +180 or more, I'd be taking a harder look.

Project much? Sheesh.

@ZiggyDawg

Yes, brutal.  But they are also huge buying opportunities.  I honestly see BTC as being in the $125-150k range in the next 8-12 months.  From there, a retest of current levels is likely, which will present another great buying opportunity.