Holy Wagers - October 6th Weekend

Lets keep the picks going strong for the Pope! Just to review, the season totals thus far through 3 weeks for the Pope are as follows:

• College Record > 8 - 2


• Pro Record > 3-4-2


• Net Betting Units Up (Down) > + 5

All games are one betting unit, unless noted. The "Most Blessed" Pick of the Week is two units. Now on to this week's picks:

College Games

Oklahoma -11 vs. Texas > The favorite has covered the last 9 years in this game, in a series that hasnt featured many close games. OU is the favorite, Texas has injuries at QB, and both are coming off losses. OU was a national championship contending team and will show that talent in this game. Prediction: OU 38 Texas 14

Ohio State - 7 vs. Purdue > I got to watch Purdue play last week, and they had an awful second half against the Irish. We passed all day on them, and even outgained the mighty Purdue offense in total yards. I think in the horseshoe, this Purdue team will lay down like a cheap tent on national television. Prediction: Ohio State 45 Purdue 20

Hawaii -39.5 vs. Utah St > Hawaii is at home, and needs to keep rolling big to have a chance at a BCS bowl. Hawaii has covered against these guys the last two years, including 63 to 10 last year. Hawaii is especially good this year, while Utah St is especially bad. Not close - Hawaii 70 Utah St 24. [Note: This is a high spread, yes. But remember I picked Arkansas -36 last week and they covered that spread by more than 20 points against North Texas. Its worth a look]

THURSDAY NIGHT SPECIAL!!!! ***South Carolina -3.5 vs. Kentucky*** [Most Blessed Pick of the Week] > The talk is all about Kentucky, but they are human my friends. Columbia is very tough place to play, and tonights crowd will be extremely roucous. The bigger story than Kentucky, to me, is can South Carolina impress in front of a national TV audience. South Carolina has only lost to LSU, but gave them a decent game. Kentucky's defense gives up to many yards on the ground, and their offense will sputter a bit with all this hype and pressure finally hitting them. You heard it here - South Carolina 35 Kentucky 21

Pro Games

Steelers -5.5 vs. Seahawks > Pitt is very tough at home, especially coming off a loss. Seattle is good but the cross country travel and the ghosts of Super Bowl 40 will not let them get off the ground in this game. Steelers 31 Seattle 21

Ravens -3.5 @ 49ers > The Ravens burned me last week against the Browns. Not this week, playing agianst their old QB Trent Dilfer for the 49ers. I just dont see the Ravens losing this game, as the 49ers offense does not match up well against the Ravens D. Ravens 24 49ers 17

Cardinals -3.5 @ Rams > The Cardinals are playing good offensive football, especially with Edge James. The Rams will be starting Gus Frerotte . . . no, thats not a misprint. Bulger is out and the O-line is decimated. The away team has won the last 4 meetings between these guys. Cardinals 28 Rams 21

And remember . . . Barney loves Soulja Boy

Saint & Heretic of the Week - September 29th Weekend

Saint of the Week - Golden Tate (True-Freshman WR for the Irish)

Golden made a few plays in the game that changed our offensive look in many ways. After really having zero passes that would be considered "deep" passes, Golden made 3 in one game. Two of his catches were nothing short of spectacular, showing fantastic timing, great leaping ability, and nice hands. The only way one can really explain how a true freshman can do what a lot of upper classman cannot is talent. He barely knows the offense and certainly doesnt know much about the nuances of playing WR in college. I'm excited to see what Coach Weis can do with this cat once Golden develops more of an understanding of the position. Enjoy his Purdue highlight clip:

Golden Tate . . . what a name. A Notre Dame name. Hopefully his progress the rest of this season will continue, as we desperately need a deep threat at WR. Who's next to breakout? The 6 foot 4 Duval Kamara, who some might argue already has. In reality, we've seen some great short routes from him, but nothing deep yet.

Runner up for Saint of the Week - Mike Gundy. Hilarious and awesome. I enjoyed this guy's rant. His passion was unquestioned and so was his loyalty to his team and players. Lots of sportswriters (not all) are arrogant academic liberals that twist facts to their own tune, creating a story out of nothing. Gundy may have gone a bit overboard, but sometimes a bit overboard is exactly the best way to send a message. Enjoy this video as well:



Heretic of the Week - Urban Meyer

This guy made a play that I absolutely despise in football. The timeout right before a field goal for the opposing team is kicked, yet the kicker is not stopped and kicks a meaningless kick anyway.

This rule is stupid, and has to go. Too many times you see the first kick go through, but then nerves or a bad snap or whatever mess up the second kick. The Cleveland Browns in week 2 made a kick that was ruled a time out play, only to miss the second kick and lose the game. Allowing this is stupid and its up to the NCAA and NFL rules committees to make the change. I cannot totally fault Urban I guess, but as an Irish fan I dont like him for obvious reasons. This play gets me madder and madder each time I see it occur and hurt a team trying to win a game, on the road especially.

Holy Wagers - Week 3 Results

Post- week 3 picks, here are the season pick standings for the Vatican (click here to see my picks I made last week for week 3):

• Wins = 11


• Losses = 6


• Push = 2


• College Record 8-2


• Pro Record 3-4-2


• Net Betting Units = +5 (for the season)

I lost my Most Blessed Pick of the week in Michigan, but won 3/4 games. Unfortunately the most blessed pick was 2 units, so that loss only gave me +1 unit for college and -1 unit for Pro, net, for week 3 of my picks. Michigan won by 12 but was 5 points short of covering.My favorite pick that worked out was Arkansas -36 over North Texas, as they won by more than 50 points.

This was my worst week yet, but I still broke even on betting units and was 4-3 on the picks. Not bad. Lets keep it going for the Pope.

Divine Diatribes - Irish week 5

There are many different emotions that I feel after this week's Irish loss to the Boilers. On one hand, we are 0-5, and really havent had a chance to win any of the games (arguable). We have given up at least 30 points in every game, and our rushing attack hasn't really had a great game yet. We are atrocious on third down offense, and our third down defense gave the Boilers 6 first downs because of stupid penalties. We also gave up a 3rd and 27 on defense that almost caused my HDTV to become injured.

On the other hand, the Irish outgained the very good Purdue offense in yards for the game. In the second half, after a Weis halftime tirade, we won the half 19-10. We saw the emergence of a playmaker in WR in freshman Golden Tate (pictured) and Duval Kamara. Our defense essentially shut Purdue down in the second half, throwing out the poor special teams field positions and the crazy 3rd and 12 penalties to keep their drives alive. We showed spark, fight, and had some big passing plays. We looked like the team that I expected for this year - a bend but not break defense with an improving offense that could keep us in 75% of our games.

I sure hope the second hand feelings end up being reflective of what we see the rest of the year. We have 3 more tough opponents in a row, and many it would be nice to steal a win (or two) from those guys. Not likely though, unless our special teams and defensive penalties drastically improve, while improving our play across the board on offense and defense.

Go Irish, beat Bruins.

Unfortunately the Titans were off this week. With as hot as we've been, I kinda wish we could have played someone this week and gotten another win. Next week we get the Falcons, so we should be able to win that game if we play like we can.

Holy Wagers - Week 3 (September 29th Weekend)

So far this season, the Pope's record stands as follows:

Wins 7
Losses 3
Push 2
Win 60%

Net Betting Units for Year +5

In College, my record is 5-1. In Pro, the record is 2-2-2.

Remember, my regular standard Holy Wagers I recommend 1 betting unit. The "Most Blessed Wager" is 2 units, and there could be a super star wager of 3 units a few times per year. Remember, this is for non-gambling purposes only (uhehmm, wink wink). Now on to the picks for this week:

COLLEGE

Michigan - 17 @ Northwestern [Most Blessed Pick of the Week] - The Wolverines are not an awful football team, like their first game made you believe. They also have covered 8 out of their last 9 Big Ten road games, which aint bad. Northwestern has given up 50+ to Ohio St, 31 to Nevada, and 20 to Duke. Michigan gets 35 to 45 points and Northwestern won't get to 21.

Georgia - 15 vs. Ole Miss - I wanted to make this a blessed pick, but the Rebels can sneak up on you and play SEC teams close. Georgia is improving and will look to run the ball all over the Rebels. I dont see the Rebel QB pulling out some long passes like he did last week against Florida, being a night game on the road. I say Georgia gets 28 to 35, while Ole Miss might get to 14. Its a good play because Georgia will be ready with how close a scare Ole Miss gave Florida last week.

Arkansas -36 vs. North Texas - North Texas is giving up 6 YPC this season . . . sounds pretty good for Mcfadden and Jones. NT gave up 79 to Oklahoma, so you have to think that Arkansas can get to 50. North Texas might get 14 points, but I doubt they will get much more. Mcfadden needs Heisman stats and the Razorbacks need a whipping boy after starting 1-2.

Thursday night special - Boise St -10.5 vs. Southern Miss - This is a rare Thursday night play but it will count as a Holy Wager. Boise is a long long ways away for the Eagles, and that Blue turf doesnt bode well for visitors typically. Boise St isnt what they were last year, but this team is stopping the run well, to a 2.7 YPC average for the season, including 2.2 YPC at home. I look for some Southern MissCues to turn this one in favor of Boise St, 28-10.

PRO

Ravens -4.5 @ Browns - Derek Anderson hasnt seen a defense like this, which I think is the best defense in the NFL period. I expect a INT pick 6 in this game, as well as 21 points from the Ravens offense. Ravens 28 Browns 17

Seahawks -2 @ 49ers - I expect this one to be close and relatively low scoring, but the Seahawks have a comparable defense and a much better offense to boot. Seahawks 24 49ers 21

Texans -2.5 @ Falcons - The Falcons cannot run the ball very well right now, and Harrington is a time bomb waiting to throw an INT. The Texans have played good defense in every game, and will run the ball right at the Falcons in a boring game. Texans 27 Falcons 17

Good luck, hopefully the picks will continue to fall the Pope's way.