NFL Predictions 2014 – Week 5

“If my mother put on a helmet and shoulder pads and a uniform that wasn’t the same as the one I was wearing, I’d run over her if she was in my way. And I love my mother.” Bo Jackson

Wonder how he feels about his Dad?

Last Week 3-3.  For the Season 3-3.  Meh.

Your Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow up to be Cowboys Pick of the Week.

Texans over Cowboys.  If you were a Texan player and looked at the actual results on the field over the last 5 seasons, would you be somewhat miffed that the Cowboys get all the attention, all the national TV games, all the adoration, all the hate?  Over the last 5 years the Cowboys have won exactly 2 more games than the Texans.  Throw in the playoffs and the Boys have a 1 game advantage.  And speaking of playoffs, the Boys haven’t sniffed them in 4 years despite playing in a division that more often than not just plain sucks.  So maybe the Texans are motivated to win this game and pick up a few hearts and minds along the way.  Given their play the last 2 weeks there is no reason to think they should win.  The defense is playing like a playoff caliber squad, the special teams are pretty damn good, but the offense blows.  Two outa three aint bad. Houston 31 Arlington 27.

Your Mama Told Me Not to Come Pick of the Week.

Browns over Titans.  It is always satisfying on an aesthetic level to have the Browns in the week’s Shit Bowl.  And a “Brown Titan” matchup seems to hold the prospect of an enormous turd being laid smack dab on the 50 yard line at LP Field on Sunday.  To be fair, this game does pit a decent Browns ground game against a slightly above mediocre Titans run defense.  Other than that it holds little interest.  Keep the No-Doz handy if you plan to watch this beastly bowel battle in Nashville. Cleveland 25 Tennessee 13.

 Your He’s a Bad Mother – Shut Your Mouth Pick of the Week.

Vikings over Packers. This game poses an early answer to the question “Is Teddy B. the real deal?”  My answer to that back on draft day was “Hell Yes.”  And I was very disappointed when the Texans did not move up one pick (one lousy measly pick) to take the Louisville Launcher.  He made mincemeat of the Falcons last week and made my pick of the Falcons look absurd.  Dom Capers will throw the book at him on Thursday and Teddy will pick it up and clock Capers in the head with it. Minnesota 42 Green Bay 35.

Your Mother Goose is Cooked Pick of the Week.

Saints over Buccaneers. A decent candidate for Shit Bowl, but instead comes in as the Must Win game of the week.  Whoever loses this one is clearly on the outside looking in at the playoffs with a 1-4 record.  Quick, who was the last 1-4 team to make the playoffs?  Saints should have enough in the tank to win this one at home.  If they don’t, say Adieu to the Saints’ season. New Orleans 28 Tampa Bay 14.

Your Mother of Battles Pick of the Week.

Cardinals over Broncos. Fox’s late showpiece has Game of the Week written all over it.  Cardinals come in as one of the last two undefeated teams.  Broncos are still formidable despite showing some cracks.  QB is a huge question for the Cards if Palmer is still out, but they have other weapons galore on offense.  And despite predictions of the Cards defense falling down because of personnel losses, they have kept it together so far.  Get the hoses out for this barn burner. Arizona 42 Denver 34. 

 Your Mother Superior Pick of the Week.

Chargers over Jets.  Yes, Sister Alegna told you not to gamble away your allowance money on football games and put it in the offering plate instead.  You didn’t listen to her, did you?  Chargers are minus 7 against the Jets at home.  Normally, Red doesn’t like to give away more than 6, but factoring in the triple time zone hex and the reverse latitudinal shift coefficient, the computer boys tell us that the Chargers are a lock.  Forget what I told you last week. Forget the 3 large you squandered on the Falcons.  Forget my address when this one goes south. San Diego 33 New Jersey 10.

Answer:  Nine teams have made the playoffs after starting 1-4; the last being the 2009 Packers.

Today in Texas History – September 29

Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Panna Maria Texas

In 1856, Father Leopold Moczygemba consecrated the first Polish Catholic church in the United States in Panna Maria. The first church was destroyed by lightning in 1875. The present church was completed in 1877 and was enlarged in 1937. During a recent renovation,  a painted ceiling was discover and restored. Panna Maria claims to be the oldest Polish settlement in America.

There was a rumor about a tumor nestled at the base of his brain.

From the annals of brain-dead collecting.  The Remington 700 6mm rifle used by Charles Whitman to shoot some of the 17 people he killed in August 1966  in the UT Tower Massacre is up for sale.  For only $25,000 this piece of American mass-killing history can be yours.

According to the Houston Chronicle:.

“There is a pending offer on the rifle of over $25,000 right now,” said [Donald] Weiss, a gun collector in his own right. That offer is from an Orange man, Weiss said.Weiss has seen the weapon used at a North Texas gun range and confirms it is in working condition. The buyer likely would want the rifle for its historical significance, and not for its inherent morbidity, Weiss said. “I think that people who have an interest in this will be shooters or gun collectors. It will be bought for collector value,” Weiss says.

August 1, 1966 is a day I will never forget.  My father was at a travel agency on the Drag just about 30 minutes before the shooting began.  I was playing in the backyard with a friend when my Grandmother came out. “Someone’s taking potshots at people from the Tower.” Unfortunately they were not pot shots.  Whitman was a trained marksman and displayed it that day.  We watched the event unfold live on KTBC which had a camera trained on the Tower.  The Tower was turned from a place of majesty and pride into a fearful monstrosity that day by an insane egomaniac.

Quote from the Ballad of Charles Whitman by Kinky Friedman.

Today in Texas History – September 26

In 1927, the “Toonerville Trolley” streetcar service from Houston to the then suburban community of Bellaire was replaced with bus service.  A sad day for public transportation.  The Trolley was designed to bring prospective buyers to Bellaire and to make Bellaire accessible from Houston.  A brochure mentioned a 30 minute trip from Houston, though there were those who remembered it sometimes took more like 2 hours for a round trip.  There was only one trolley in service at a time and it was #124, dubbed the Toonerville Trolley.  The last Trolley car sits uselessly in the Paseo Park median of Bellaire Blvd where the trolley lines used to run.  The City tries to keep the Trolley spirit alive with the Trolley 5K Run and Trolley Tunes concerts in the park.

Today in Texas History – September 25

In 1922, radio station WOAI in San Antonio began broadcasting. It was the first station in South Texas. The station had an initial power of 500 watts. It grew to what was considered a powerful 5,000 watts by 1925 and eventually 50,000 watts allowing the station to be heard throughout most of Texas. The station later joined the world’s first communication network, the National Broadcasting Company.  Notably, WOAI was one of the first stations to employ a local news staff.  It is now given over to mostly predictable and pedestrian right-wing talk radio.  But,  on my radio dial, 1200 will never mean anything other than WOAI.

Today in Texas History – September 24

In 2005, Hurricane Rita made landfall devastating Beaumont, Texas and portions of southwestern Louisiana. Rita was the fourth–most intense Atlantic ever recorded and the most intense hurricane ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico.  Although it began to rapidly weaken after making landfall, nine counties in the Texas were declared disaster areas after the storm.

Rita was almost as famous for what preceded it as for the destruction it caused.  Coming just three weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the northern Gulf Coast, the prospect of another major hurricane prompted mass mandatory and voluntary evacuations in Southeast Texas. Somewhere between 2.5 – 3.7 million people evacuated the Gulf Coast region prior to Rita’s landfall.  This was the largest evacuation in US history and exposed major flaws in the system for evacuating mass numbers of people from the region.  The evacuation was rife with tales of 15-20 hours spent in cars traveling only 5-10 miles, many people simply giving up and returning home or running out of gas.  The debacle prompted new measures to ensure quicker evacuations.

NFL Predictions – Week 4

I skipped the first 3 weeks of the season, but will try earnestly to make weekly picks for the remainder of the year. This year’s theme will be quotes from famous footballer’s past and present.

Quote of the Week:

“When it’s third and ten, you can take the milk drinkers and I’ll take the whiskey drinkers.”

 Max McGee, Green Bay Packers

I’ll always trust someone with that hairstyle.

Your Green Bay Packers Pick of the Week:

Packers over Bears.  I picked the Packers to make the playoffs and they are 1-2.  Of course, I picked the Bears to win the NFC North, so my hands are sort of tied here.  At this point in the season, this is an important match-up for both squads.  We have seen that the Bears have an offensive juggernaut that may just overwhelm a lot of teams this season.  They may end up with the best passing offense in the league with Cutler throwing to two brutally effective wide-outs and a running game that cannot be ignored.  Meanwhile, the Pack looks to be in disarray right now. All signs point to the Bears and even if they didn’t I should go with home field advantage when these two old rivals meet, but clearly that’s not my style.  This one has game of the week written all over it.  Green Bay 35 Chicago 34.

 Your Milk-Drinking Pick of the Week:

Texans over Bills. On Sunday, the Texans fell to earth which graciously accepted their lifeless corpse.  The Giants exposed the obvious flaws (turnover-happy QB, suspect front 7 against a running game, patchy special teams), but the game showed one thing and one thing only – the Texans are a different team when Arian Foster is in uniform.   They might be whiskey drinkers with him, but they have milk moustaches without him.  The Bills also returned to Terra getting whipped by the surprising Chargers.   Another mediocre match-up.  If Arian plays, he is the difference maker.  If not – all bets are off.  Houston 30 Orchard Park 20.

Your Whiskey-Drinking Pick of the Week:

Eagles over 49ers.  Going against the triple-reverse time zone hex this week to pick the Eagles on the road in California.  My pick to win it all has not disappointed so far, while the Niners look to be in disarray.  The only thing hard to believe is that the Eagles are second in passing offense so far.  The Eagles defense is somewhat suspect but should be good enough to handle the so-far anemic Niners’ second-half offense.  I am not a CK believer and he is showing me why right now.  I am calling for a major road-show ass-whipping and much whiskey drinking in Philly.  Philadelphia 45 Santa Clara 19.

Your Didn’t the Packers Always Beat the Cowboys Pick of the Week:

Saints over Cowboys.  Loyal readers know one thing – when I pick a Cowboys game, it is because I am picking them to lose.  The Saints will be the first real test for the Boys this season.  They will fail. New Orleans 17 Arlington 6.

Your Max Bet Pick of the Week:

Falcons over Vikings. Going to Vegas this week?  Here’s your bet – Falcons -3 on the road against Vikings.  Vikings will be lucky to score 3 points against even a pathetic Falcons defense.  They have no shot of keeping up with Falcons high-flying offense which should be good for 35 points on average this season.  Atlanta 42 Minnesota 13.

Your They Don’t Drink Milk with Whiskey in London Pick of the Week:

Dolphins over Raiders. Sometimes it’ hard to pick a really deserving Shit Bowl this early in the season as the really crappy teams have not revealed their utter crappiness yet.  Not this week.  Our friends at Wembley in London will have the rare treat of a completely legitimate, make no bones about it, sure-fire, run screaming from the telly, Shit Bowl on Sunday.  It would be hard to find two more deserving teams at this juncture in the season. The Raiders and Dolphins have the 29th and 28th worst passing attacks in the league.  Raiders have some defensive competence, but that is easily overcome by their offensive ineptitude.  Dolphins suck too (and have a looming quarterback controversy on their hands). But not quite as much as Los Raiders.  Keep the drain cleaner under lock and key if you dare to watch this Execrable Excrement Exhibition from England. Miami 26 Oakland 14.

Today in Texas History – September 23

In 1972, the University of Texas’s dedicated a new modern scoreboard to former Longhorn football player Freddie Steinmark. Steinmark played defensive back for UT during his sophomore and junior years. As a sophomore he was the team’s leading punt returner. In December 1969, a mere six days after helping Texas defeat Arkansas in the “Big Shootout,” Steinmark was diagnosed with cancer in his left leg which had to be immediately amputated.  He went from starring on the field for a National Championship team to never being able to play or even walk normally again within a week.  He was on crutches on the sideline for Texas’ victory over Notre Dame in the 1970 Cotton Bowl.  He died in 1971.

For many long-time UT football fans, the Arkansas game in Fayetteville in 1969 is still the most exciting game in Texas history.  One of the first regular season games to be played in December, it pitted the top two teams in the country in a showdown for the National Championship.  It even featured Richard Nixon flying into watch the game and later declare the Horns to be the National Champions.  The excitement of that game was later tempered by the sad reality of Steinmark’s diagnosis and the end of his career.

The original Steinmark scoreboard was itself a victim of progress and has been replaced by a larger version.