This week’s NFL Prediction Six-Pack

“Right after the game, say as little as possible.”  Tom Landry

We miss you Tom, and your tight ass.

Red was off for Thanksgiving last week.  For Week 12 it was a pathetic 2-4.  For the season 24-30.  Not even close.

Your Silence is Golden Pick of the Week.

Lions over Buccaneers.  Tampa Bay will be an interesting team to watch – next year.  The only reason to watch this year is to see Mike Evans continue his march towards Rookie of the Year.  Lions are the biggest surprise to Red this season as he picked them to be watching the playoffs in January.  Some team is going 10-6 or possibly even 11-5 and missing the post-season.   Lions need win to keep pace in the surprisingly competitive NFC wildcard race. .    Detroit 20 Tampa Bay 13.

Your Silence of the Lambs Pick of the Week

Texans over Jaguars.   Will wonders never cease?  Ryan Fitzpatrick actually looked like an NFL starting quarterback last week against the hapless Titans.  Meanwhile, DeAndre Hopkins and J. J. Watt keep confirming that their deals are real.  The Texans have the talent to win games, but most weeks they have the mentality of losers.  The good news for Fitz and Crew is that bigger losers are coming to town on Sunday.  Houston 36 Jacksonville 20.

You’re the Less Said the Better Pick of the Week.

Bengals over Stealers.   There you have it.  Cincinnati 32 Pittsburgh 20.

Your Hipsters in Fedoras Pick of the Week.

Chargers over Patriots.   Another big match-up this week as the Patriots attempt to overcome the reverse triple time zone/Mediterranean climate shift hex when they travel to face the Chargers for their second Sunday night match up in a row.  Brady and crew looked beatable for most of the Packers game until making it close before collapsing under pressure in the frigid Wisconsin night.  Weather is not a factor this week, but playing the Chargers is a puzzle.  Which Chargers team shows up this week?  The one that lost to Dolphins 37-0 or the one that beat the Seahawks by 9.  Chargers have been mostly eking out wins over the decent teams they have played and would be happy with one more eke this week.   San Diego 27 New England 24.

Your Silent Predators Pick of the Week.

Eagles over Seahawks.  I don’t have this as a Superb Owl matchup, but it wouldn’t surprise Red to see these two wily avian predators playing in February.  Eagles were at their best in dismantling the Cowboys on Thanksgiving.  The Legion was just fine in shutting down the Cardinals last week, but the Hawks offense has begun to sputter.   No sputtering allowed against the high-flying Eagles. You don’t need to score that many to beat the Seahawks lately.    Philadelphia 30 Seattle 17.

Your Silencio Pick of the Week.

Titans over Giants.  When reading about the bullfights in the paper the next day, the one word you don’t want to see is “silencio.”  That means the crowd rewarded an especially deficient performance with silence.  Red has seen that happen at Texans’ games on a number of occasions when there were about 1437 fans left in the stands at the end of the game.  It’s kind of sad what has happened to the Titans since Bud Adams died as attested to by their repeated appearances in the weekly Shit Bowl.  Last week’s debacle against the Texans was a new low point.  Well, this is the Titan’s week as they face a Giants team that comes to Nashville on 7 game losing streak to set up a contender for Shit Bowl of the Year.  Don’t clean your Ruger while watching this dreadful dung duel lest ye be tempted to put a big hole in that brand new 52 incher hanging on the living room wall.   Tennessee 13 New Jersey 11.

Red’s Bonus Early Final Four Prediction

At the beginning  of the season Red picked: Baylor, Alabama, Oregon and Michigan State (should have paid more attention to the schedule)

At this point it looks like: TCU, Alabama, Oregon and Wisconsin/Florida State

It should be an interesting weekend.

From the Annals of Corporate Greed –  In 2001, the Enron Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.  Enron was formed in 1985 as the merger of two gas companies, Houston Natural Gas and Internorth. Chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay engineered Enron’s rise to 7th place in the Fortune 500.  At its peak, Enron employed 21,000 people and posted revenue of $111 billion. The peak was short-lived as Enron’s business model came under more and more scrutiny.  The stock price fell off the cliff, dropping from $90.75 in August 2000 to $0.26 on November 30, 2001.

The rightly maligned Lay sold large amounts of his Enron stock, but encouraged the average Enron employees to buy more shares claiming that the company was on the rebound. Many employees faced financial ruin when Enron’s stock price continued to plummet.  By the end of 2001, Enron’s collapse had cost investors billions of dollars, wiped out some 5,600 jobs and liquidated almost $2.1 billion in pension plans.

For a time, Enron was the poster child for major corporate fraud and corruption.  Numerous investigations revealed that Enron had inflated its earnings by hiding debts and losses in subsidiary partnerships. Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, who served as Enron’s CEO from February to August 2001 were indicted on federal conspiracy charges for their scheme of covering up Enron’s crooked financial practices. Among Enron’s victims was accounting firm Arthur Anderson, whose auditors were found guilty of deliberately destroying documents incriminating to Enron.

Skilling, the principal villain in Enron’s collapse was indicted and convicted and sentenced to 24 years in prison. Lay was also convicted but died before serving any time.

“When he is speaking, he is lying.  When he is silent, he is stealing.”

Said of Jay Gould.

From the Annals of O’ Pioneers –  In 1825, Dr. Felix Robertson and 32 men left Nashville, Tennessee for Leftwich’s Grant.  Robert Leftwich had belonged to the Texas Association.  The Association was formed to by a group of Nashville investors to obtain a colonization grant from Mexico.  Leftwich had received a grant in his own name and later transferred it to the Association on the condition that it be referred to as Leftwich’s Grant.  The Robertson expedition explored the country along the Brazos, Leon, Lampasas, Salado, and San Gabriel rivers for several months before returning to Tennessee. In the spring of 1830, Sterling C. Robertson, a member of the expedition, and his partner Alexander Thomson Jr. began recruiting families to come to Texas.  However, the Mexican Law of April 6, 1830 prevented any further settlement by Americans in new areas.  Instead, the Tennesseans settled in Stephen F. Austin’s colony.  Eventually, Mexico awarded a new contract to Sterling C. Robertson as empresario and the area was called Robertson’s colony.

This week’s NFL Prediction Six-Pack

“Gentlemen, it is better to have died a small boy than to fumble this football.”  John Heisman

 “Gentlemen, it is best to ignore the ravings of your clinically insane coach.”  Red

Last week 3-3.  For the season 22-26.  This is my week for sure!

Late Season Update:     The dream is still alive.  In 2010, the Seahawks were the first NFL team to make the playoffs (in a non-strike season) with a losing record at 7-9.  It is theoretically possible for a team to make the playoffs with a 6-10 record if they win all of their division games and no other team in the division wins more than 6 games.  Some claim it is even possible for a 5-11 team to make the playoffs.  Not being quite so greedy, I have long dreamed of the glorious day when that first 6-10 playoff team takes the field. That dream is still alive because of the pathetically weak NFC South.  The Falcons and Saints head up the division with mighty 4-6 records followed closely by the Panthers at 3-7-1.  Even the lowly Buccaneers are not out of contention at 2-8.  Yes, that’s right – a 6 game winning streak would likely put them into the playoffs given the competition in this shithole of division.  Red doesn’t have time to work out all the iterations, but a 6-10 team playing in January is looking more and more likely.  Stay tuned.

Your I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead (Again) Pick of the Week.

Chiefs over Raiders.   The Raiders are going to win a game this season, but not this week.  Chiefs should be able to sleepwalk through this one.  By 9:30, Red will be watching reruns of Bonanza.    Kansas City 38 Oakland 10.

Your Dead Reckoning Pick of the Week

Texans over Bengals.   Red will have to listen to this one on the AM Radio because he plans to be hunting in deepest darkest bottomland near the Navidad River on Sunday.  Homecomings for the Red Rifle have not been so friendly and his frustration continues this week.  The Texans’ defense is statistically weak but structurally sound.  Expect Romeo to throw the book at Dalton.  Expect Mallet to have another workmanlike game if the O-Line gives him time to unleash the cannon. 8-8 still looks like the most likely outcome for the Texans but 9 is not out of reach if they bamboozle the Bengals. Houston 24 Cincinnati 20.

Your Dead Head Pick of the Week.

Ravens over Saints.    A Saints loss will help keep the dream alive. See above.  Red likes the Ravens plus 4 on the road on the sparkly turf of the SuperDome.  Red is going heavy on the over here at 50.  Both Flacco Joe and Brees can light up the scoreboard on a good night.  Last week Red hit it big on the Patriots to beat the Colts and to cover the daunting 57 point over.  So there you have it.  Baltimore 34 New Orleans 27.

Your Dead Solid Perfect Pick of the Week.

Cardinals over Seahawks.   For this late in the season, there are not a lot of really good match-ups this week.  Only the Lions-Patriots game rivals this one for Red’s NFL GAME OF THE WEEK!.  Cardinals have a chance to all but eliminate the Seabirds from repeating as division champions with a win and post a franchise-record best 11-1 record after 12 games. The Seahawks are the most unsurprising team in the league.  Red hesitated to even pick them to make the playoffs and it will likely be close – especially if they lose this one.  This week Lynch is still pissed about the 100 large hole in his pocket for stiffing the media.  That could be trouble for the Cards. More trouble if Stanton collapses under the Hawks’ defensive pressure.  It will take defensive points to win this one.   Arizona 23 Seattle 20.

Your Dead Man Walking Pick of the Week.

Bears over Buccaneers.    This week’s Shit Bowl is likely to be played on a very cold toilet seat at Soldier Field.  The Bears are a mystery.  The Bucs just plain suck.  Resist the temptation to prepare that final Tidy-Bowl and Rum cocktail if you dare to watch this boring bowel battle on Sunday. Chicago 13 Tampa Bay 3.

Your Wanted Dead or Alive (Again) Pick of the Week.

Giants over Cowboys.  There is no question that the Cowboys should win this game.  Their bruising rushing attack should be enough to wear down the piss-poor Giant’s defense – especially on a snowy frozen field.  This is a critical early-late season game for the Boys.  With the Eagles likely to beat the Titans and then with the Eagles coming to town for Thanksgiving, they could easily be two back with only 4 to play.  Giants are misfiring on all cylinders and haven’t beaten the Cowboys in a good while.  Now is the time.   New Jersey 24 Arlington 23.

In case you haven’t been paying attention, Governor Rick Perry has been indicted over his attempt to force Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg from office by threatening to veto state funding for an anti-corruption unit in her office unless she stepped down after being arrested for DWI. Perry would have named Lehmberg’s replacement.  The special prosecutor in  Perry’s criminal case is arguing that Perry “abused his authority, and he improperly used the threat of a veto to indirectly achieve what he had no power to do directly.”  This of course is a vicious political prosecution that is somehow being led by a Republican special prosecutor and overseen by a Republican judge.

All of this raises the issue of how our poor idiot Governor treated other officials with similar issues.  At least two other DA’s have been convicted of DWI – but they were good god-fearing Republicans so naturally the Governor did not see the need for any action.

And now it is revealed that Wayne Roberts, who heads up the Governor’s signature creation, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, was convicted of driving while intoxicated in 1990 and 2006.  And he was charged  and fined for public intoxication in Virginia in 2000.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20141115-perry-promoted-aide-with-three-alcohol-offenses-on-record.ece

Photo from http://www.motherjones.com

From the Annals of Valor — In 1943, Marines Staff Sgt. William James Bordelon of San Antonio and First Lt. William Dean Hawkins of El Paso were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for their heroic actions in the horrific battle for Tarawa.   Bordelon landed on the beach under intense enemy fire that killed all but four men in his tractor. He remained in action even after he was hit providing cover fire for a group scaling a seawall.  Disregarding his own injuries, Bordelon went to the aid of two wounded men in the water. He was killed when he singelhandedly attacked a Japanese machine-gun position. Hawkins  was in command of a scout-sniper platoon.  His unit moved forward under heavy enemy fire and neutralized the enemy troops assaulting the main beach positions. He repeatedly risked his life to direct and lead attacks on pillboxes and enemy installations.  Hawkins was seriously wounded in the chest, but refused to withdraw.  He fought until he was mortally wounded by enemy shell fire. The airstrip on Tarawa was named Hawkins Field in his honor.

Dallas and Houston have been rated among the worst cities in the U.S. for veterans.  Surprisingly, San Antonio does not fare that well either in the WalletHub study.

http://houston.citybizlist.com/article/223543/dallas-houston-among-worst-cities-for-veterans

From the Annals of the Saints Go Marching In  –  In 1845, the first group of Mormon settlers to come to Texas arrived in Grayson County.  The group of dissident Mormons was led by Lyman Wight.  They spent the winter at an abandoned fort near Preston, and then moved on to Austin by June of 1846. They remained there until 1847, at which time the established their own community near Fredericksburg which they called Zodiac. There Wight implemented what he term the “common stock principle” – a strict form of communal living.  Zodiac attracted a number of Mormon dissenters.  However, in 1849, Wight was excommunicated by the Mormons in Utah for failure to follow Latter Day Saint doctrine and insubordination to LDS authority. A flood on the Pedernales River destroyed Zodiac in 1851.  There is nothing left of the site today.

From the Annals of Industrial Progress –   In 1837, the Morgan Lines’  steamship Columbia arrived in New Orleans.  This was the first voyage of the first steamship line in Texas.  The Morgan Line was founded by shipping and railroad magnate Charles Morgan.  The Morgan Line later expanded its shipping into a new port called Powderhorn, which grew into Indianola and was a chief port of the line until destroyed by a hurricane. By 1858 the Morgan Line was operating three trips a week between Galveston and New Orleans, and by 1860 the company had a monopoly on coastal shipping.

Painting of the Morgan Line steamer Lone Star from http://www.maritimetexas.net