The SoapBoxers

Thanks all for hanging in there with me as I missed last week … Johnny G has more important matters to attend to … like starting a chemo treatments to battle Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

But enough of the bad news, lets concentrate on Football this week.

Last Week:
Straight Up – 15-5 ATS: 14-6
For the Year:
Straight Up – 77-35 ATS: 60-52
Finally a week to get me off and running again.

College:

Minnesota @ Ohio St (-17) Unless they let Pryor run, they won’t cover the 17. OH St 31- MN 24

South Florida @ Pittsburgh (-6.5) I smell an upset here. S FLA – 21- Pitt 17

Iowa State @ Nebraska (-17.5) Cody Green!  The Huskers win big this week and remove the naysayers. Huskers 42- ISU 14

Colorado @ Kansas St (-4.5) – The Buffs are starting to look good.  KSU leads the Big XII North???  Colorado 21- KSU 21

Wake Forest @ Navy – (-2.5) The Match up of wild and crazy misdirection running games. Navy in a close one. Navy 21- Wake 20

Oklahoma (-8) @ Kansas. A biggie for the Jayhawks. They have a good offense but can they stop anyone? OU 35- KU 28

NFL:

San Francisco @ Houston (-3) The Texans have it rolling, and the nniners are seemingly reeling. A big day for Matt Schaub. Hou 35- SF 17

Indianapolis (-14) @ St Louis. The only issue here is will the Colts cover. I am padding my straight up numbers this week. Colts 35- Rams 14

Minnesota @ Pittsburgh (-5.5) A lot of points. I like the Steelers but this is too big of a spread. Steelers 24- Vikings 21

New England (-15) vs Tampa Bay in London! Tally ho … chalk up another one for the hoodie. Pats 42- Bucs 10

Green Bay (-7) @ Cleveland. I have not seen any life from the Browns to make me a believer. Pack 28 – Browns 17

New York Jets (-6) @ Oakland – Commitment to excellence is playing better than the Sanchise. Give me the Raaaaaaaiders…Oak 10 Jets 7

New Orleans (-7) @ Miami – With the Saints have a hangover after last week….No WAY. Saints 35- Miami – 21

Arizona @ New York Giants (-7) Something tells me Kurt Warner will handle the pressure. But can the cards stop the running game of the G Men? Giants 24- Cards 21

Philadelphia (-7)@ Washington – Who is in more disarray? The Skins with coaching woes or the Eagles who got beat at Oakland last week while looking horrible. Eagles 28- Washington 10

Last Week:
Straight Up – 11-9 ATS: 10-10

For the Year:
Straight Up – 62-30 ATS: 46-46

Meh…so so week for me….Some interesting games this week.

Thursday

Nebraska (-2.5) @ Missouri – Pelini has had this on the calendar since the embarrassment in Lincoln last year.  NE 27- Mizz – 10

Saturday

Boston College @ Virginia Tech (-13.5) – VA Tech is hot and cold.  I see the hokey pokey this week.  VA Tech 35- BC 17

Georgia @ Tennessee (-1.5) – Wow….Tennessee is bad in my opinion.  This should be dawgs!  GA- 28- Tenn – 10

Iowa State @ Kansas (-19.5) – Rack Chalk Jayhawk….this one will be ugly.  KU – 42- ISU 14

Alabama (-6.5) @ Ole Miss – Ole Miss still gets too much respect.  Bama is the quietist #3 ranked team ever.  Bama – 31- Ole Miss 21

Wisconsin @ THE Ohio State (-14.5) – Can Ohio State beat anyone by this much….Goodman says NO!.  OH State 22- Wisconsin 19

Oregon (-6.5) @ UCLA – Oregon is back on track!  ORE – 28- UCLA – 20

Baylor @ Oklahoma (-25.5) No Robert Griffith = No chance.  OU – 49- Baylor 20

Stanford (-2.5) @ Oregon State – Stanford is suddenly the emerald jewel of the Pac 10 conference..  Stanford – 21- Ore St 20

Texas Christian (-10.5) @ Air Force – Frogs Rule…I love the Frogs.  TCU – 31- Air Force 20

Florida (-8.5) @ Louisiana State – Wow that is a big number with no Tim Tebow.  LSU – 24- Florida 21

Michigan @ Iowa (-8.5) – I am not drinking the Tate Forcier water just yet but…..Iowa 24- Mich 20

NFL

Cincinatti @ Baltimore (-8.5) – Ravens look to rebound after tough loss last week.  Balt – 29- Cin 20

Washington @ Carolina (-4)  Team with no wins at home a favorite…Jeeesh.  Washington – 20- Carolina – 15

Pittsburgh (-12) @ Detroit – Maybe no Stafford..not like it will matter.  Pitt- 35- Detroit 10

Dallas (-9) @ Kansas City – Wow the Cowboys are not good.  Romo is not good.  Maybe T.O. got out while the gettin’ was good. KC- 21- Dallas 20

Minnesota (-11) @ St Louis.  How do you spell St Louis?  U-G-L-Y.  Minnesota – 35- ST Louis 17

New England (-3.5) @ Denver- Broncos used too much last week to narrowly beat Dallas.  NE is much better.  New England 24- Denver 14

Jacksonville (-4) @ Seattle – Still no Matt Hasselback?  Jacksonville is clicking on all cylinders.  Jax- 21- Seattle 14

New York Jets @ Miami (-1.5) – Is Braylon Edwards the answer for Mark Sanchez?  Are the Jets still stinging after last week.  Nope.  Jets – 24- Miami 20

Last Week:
Straight Up – 12-8 ATS: 11-9

For the Year:
Straight Up – 51-21 ATS: 36-36

Back to level par on the spread picks for the year.  Most of the upsets did not pan out…so I will take a stab at a few more this week.

Thursday

Colorado @ West Virginia (-17.5) – Too many points, Colorado is overmatched but will make it a decent game.  WV- 35- COLO 21

Friday

Pittsburgh (-6.5) @ Louisville – This one scares me for some reason.  Upset special?  Lousiville 24- Pitt 21

Saturday

Michigan @ Michigan State – Mich State feels disrespected.  Go Green!  Misch St 27- Mich 24

Northwestern @ Purdue (-6.5)  – Seems like the boilermakers will go big here.  Purdue 35-  NW – 20

Kansas State @ Iowa State (-3.5)  -eeessh…battle of the bottom of the Big XII North.  IA St 35- K St 17

LSU @ Georgia (-3.5) – How bout dem Dawgs!  GA- 17- LSU 14

Penn State (-6.5) @ Illinois – Penn State still stinging after last week.  JoPa will have em ready to play.  Penn St 30- Illinois 24

Washington @ Notre Dame (-13.5) – Jake Locker only wins big games at home.  ND pads another easy win but closer than you might think.  ND – 28- Wash -24

North Carolina State (-1.5) @ Wake Forest  – Wake has to do it sometime for me.  WF- 21- NC ST – 21

USC (-6.5) @ California – Antoher intriguing matchup.  Is USC overated?  Is Cal underated?  USC – 28 – Cal 21

Oklahoma (-7.5) @ Miami – Too Many points..Miami in a close one.  They are a different team at home.  The U – 28- OU 24

NFL

Detroit @ Chicago (-10)  Big spread for the Bears but they will harras Stafford early and often.  Bears – 28 – Lions 17

Tennessee (-3) @ Jacksonville – Who thought these teams would have just one combined win between the both of them.  Tenneseee 17- J-ville 14

Baltimore (-1.5) @ New England – The Ravens are the REAL DEAL – Balt – 24- NE 21

Dallas (-3) @ Denver- Cowboys still have not played a complete game..until this week.  Cowboys – 35- Denver 14

Cincinatti (-6) @ Cleveland – Derek Anderson is the savior for the Browns.  CLE – 24- CIN 21

New York Jets @ New Orleans (-7) Match up of the week.  Blitzing won’t frustrate Brees.  Saints 35- Jets 17

St Louis @ San Francisco (-10)  Wow big number..will Frank Gore Play?  Rams cover but lose.  SF- 28 – STL 20

San Diego @ Pittsburgh (-6)  This is a fishy number to me…superbowl hangover?  Pitt 21- SD – 17

Green Bay @ Minnesota (-3.5)  The one we have all been waiting for.  This one should go down to the wire.  Green Bay 21- MN 20

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For fear of talking too much about the University of Nebraska Football team, I have abstained from writing articles about them this college football season … until now.

One of the signs at the Memorial Stadium reads: Through these gates pass the greatest fans in College football.  Not many who have been to Lincoln for a game since 1962 would argue that fact.

A very remarkable event took place in Lincoln, Nebraska this past Saturday.  The Nebraska Cornhuskers hosted their 300th consecutive sell out football game.

To just about everyone outside of Nebraska, this seems like a whole lot to do about nothing.  I mean what the hell is there to do in Nebraska anyway other than on football Saturdays?  It is a boring state to drive through on Interstate 80, not a lot of people live there … they have the only Unicameral legislature in the country … so what is the big deal?

Nebraska Football is one common thread that brings the entire state an identity.  On the National scene, people from all over the U.S. recognize “Nebraska” and “Cornhusker Football” as one and the same entity.  It is truly something that the people of Nebraska take great pride in.

It all started in 1962 … and not at the beginning of the season.  The upstart Cornhuskers under then first year head coach Bob Devaney sold out Memorial Stadium and promptly were beaten by the Missouri Tigers.  But before he was done, Devaney had built a national powerhouse of college football.  A perennial winner.  He won two National titles, and Tom Osborne would later add three in four years.

Next closest on the sell out list … The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, but they are about 15 sold out years behind as their current streak stands at 207 … that helps to put it into context.

The Cornhusker faithful endured some harsh times of late in what the locals call “The Bill Callahan Era”.  The first non-bowl season in a couple generations.  The first losing season since, well … Bob Devaney came to town.

But the people still came … (insert your voiceover of James Earl Jones in Field Of Dreams here …)

People will come Ray, They’ll come to Lincoln for reasons they can’t even fathom. They’ll come into Memorial Stadium, not knowing for sure why they’re doing it. They arrive looking for the Huskers, all as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won’t mind if you look around, buy a Fairbury Brand Hot Dog or a Runza you’ll say. It’s only $4 per person. They’ll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and Valentino’s pizza they lack … And they’ll walk up to the bleachers and sit in their short sleeves on a perfect fall afternoon. They’ll find they have reserved seats somewhere in the South end zone where they sat when they were students, and cheered their heroes. And they’ll watch the game, and it’ll be as if they’d dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick, they’ll have to brush them away from their faces … People will come, Ray … The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been the Cornhuskers. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers; it has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But the Cornhuskers have marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again. Ohhhh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come …

Congratulations Nebraska on truly a remarkable achievement. Not the victory, but the action; Not the goal, but the game; In the deed, the glory.

Last Week:
Straight Up – 13-7 ATS: 10-10

For the Year:
Straight Up – 39-13 ATS: 25-27

 A decent week for Johnny G last weekend, I need the worm to turn on the ATS picks.  Thanks to Kosmo for filling in with a sports article on Monday as I had to head out of town for work …. to parts unknown to wireless internet providers …

 Here we go for this week

 College

Thursday

Ole Miss (-4.5) @ South Carolina – Nutt or Spurrier … it is that easy.  SC – 24- Ole Miss 21

Saturday

North Carolina @ Georgia Tech (-2.5) – The Wreck needs a “W” – GT – 24- NC 21

Michigan State @ Wisconsin (-2.5)- We don’t need no stinking badges … Mich St – 27- Wisc 21

California (-7.5) @ Oregon – Oregon is just really not good at all – California 35- OR 21

Miami (FL) (-1.5) @ Virginia Tech – Ouch … still hurting from the Huskers loss last week.  I predict a beatdown this week.  The only team more overrated in the top 15 than Va Tech is Ole Miss – Miami 35- Va Tech 14

Louisiana-Lafayette @ Nebraska (-26.5) – Huskers get healthy this week in the 300^th consecutive sell out in Memorial stadium.  Neb- 42- LFAY – 14

Army @ Iowa State (-10.5) – I have a bad feeling for Cyclonoe fans this week.  Army – 24- Ia St 21

Iowa @ Penn State (-10.5) Too Big of a spread here.  Iowa looks great at times and bad at others but … Penn St 35- Iowa 27

Notre Dame (-8.5) @ Purdue – Purdue is not good, thank goodness for that Irish Fans, as the golden domers continue to pad the schedule with easy wins over overrated bigger name weak big 10 teams … wait … wasn’t that also Michigan … nevermind … ND- 35- Purdue 17

Texas Tech @ Houston (-1.5)  I take the overs … dang … I have to pick someone …. ok … Houston 52- Texas Tech 49

NFL

Cleveland @ Baltimore (-14) –  Cleveland is just plain bad….no way around it.  Baltimore 28 – Browns 14

Tennessee (-2.5)@ NY Jets – The Jets crash this week in a close one.  Tennessee – 21 Jets 17

Green Bay (-8.5) @ St. Louis – The Packers lose a tough one last week…St Louis is not a tough one this week.  GB- 30- STL – 17

Atlanta @ New England (-4) –   New England finds a way to get Brady on track this week..and big.  NE – 31- ATL – 24

San Francisco @ Minnesota (-6) – The vikes have not been tested..Gore won’t go for 200+ this week.  MN 28-  SF 17

New Orleans (-6) @ Buffalo – The Saints are the best team in the league through two weeks.  NO 42- Buff 20

Pittsburgh (-4) @ Cincinnati – Pittsburgh is due for a rebound after a tough loss against the Bears last week – Pitt 21-Cin 17

Miami @ San Diego (-6) – San Diego is the better team in my opinion, and Miami is still smarting for letting one get away last week.  SD- 280 Miami – 20

SUNDAY NIGHT–
Indianapolis @ Arizona (pick em)– What an great matchup of quarterbacks.  Arizona has more weapons at receiver right now than the Colts do….AZ- 24- IND 23

MONDAY NIGHT–
Carolina @ Dallas (-9) – Dallas had four turnovers last week and still almost won.  Cowboys get er done this week.  Dal 27- Carolina 21.

A rough week for Goodman last week as the spread took me behind the woodshed.

Last Week:
Straight Up – 15-2 ATS: 5-12

For the Year:
Straight Up – 26-6 ATS: 15-17

College

Georgia Tech @ Miami (FL) (-4.5) – Two Words…Hurricane Warning. Miami 31 – GT 24

Boise State (-7.5) @ Fresno State – Battle of two states that actually are not states at all. Fresno plays everyone tough but Boise gets the win. Boise St  35 – Fresno St 28

California (-14.5) @ Minnesota – The Golden Bears are good, but not this good on the road. California 31 – Minnesota 21

Louisville @ Kentucky (-13.5) – A much better basketball matchup. Lousiville 24 – Kentucky 21

Tennessee @ Florida (-28.5) – If you ain’t Gator … you’re Gator Bait …. Florida 56 – Tennesee 17

Nebraska @ Virginia Tech (-3.5) – I am not drinking the Kool Aid for the Huskers just yet. Va Tech 28 Nebraska 21

Michigan State @ Notre Dame (-11.5) – Lou Holtz finds a way to make another positive spin on a Notre Dame loss last week … did he go do a pregame speech for them? Notre Dame 35 – Mich St 24

Cincinnati @ Oregon State (-1.5) BearKats get a big road win here. Cincinnati 34 – Ore St 30

Florida State @ Brigham Young (-7.5) – When is the last time Bobby Started 0-2 … I don’t know but it won’t be this year. Florida St – 21 BYU 20

Texas Tech @ Texas (-16.5) – Longhorns get revenge in a big way this year. Texas 42 – Texas Tech 21

NFL

New Orleans @ Philadelphia – (Pick em) No Mcnabb…No chance. Saints 35 – Eagles 28

Oakland @ Kansas City (-3) The Chefs (yes I spelled that correctly), get on track this week. Raiders can’t hold it together outside of Raider Nation.  Kansas City 21 – Oakland 17

Cincinnati @ Green Bay (-9.5) A large spread. An emotional win last week against the Bears. The Bengals cover but lose. GB – 28 Cin 24

Minnesota (-9.5) @ Detroit – Lions get no respect. AP is even faster indoors. Minnesota 35 – Lions 17

New England (-3.5)@ NY Jets – Jets are talking big time about how good they are. New Enland will remind them who is boss. Patriots 35 – Jets 28

Seattle @ San Francisco (-1.5) I like the Seahawks. I like Singletary. This should be a good one. Sea 24 – SF 23

Baltimore @ San Diego (-3) – Last week Flacco looked like Johnny Unitas. San Diego made Jamarcus Russell look like Johnny Unitas. Bad combination. Baltimore 28 – SD 21

Pittsburgh (-3) @ Chicago – The Steelers are just too tough here. The Bears receiving corps needs a LOT of help. Steelers 24 – Bears 14

SUNDAY NIGHT:
NY Giants @ Dallas (-3)– How bout dem Cowboys! They get the Jerrytron the win in the home opener. Dallas 28 – Giants 24

MONDAY NIGHT:
Indianapolis (-3)@ Miami – Even with a depleted receiving group, the Colts are too potent here. Colts 28 – Dolphins 17

Week #1 of the NFL is in the books.  I am writing this prior to the Monday night match-ups, so I will not comment on either of those games here.  Some real interesting items of note in the first week of action:

• New Orleans offense – Who needs defense when you can score at will each and every week.  I realize they were playing the Lions but still a very impressive show by Brees and Company
• Injuries – The Steelers Lose Troy Polamalu for extended time.  The Colts lose their answer to Marvin Harrison, Anthony Gonzalez, for up to six weeks.  Donovan McNabb cracks some ribs and might miss time.  The Bears Lose Brian Urlacher for possibly the remainder of the season.  What do all of these have in common … they are all on my fantasy football teams.
• Adrian Peterson – A monster opener for AP.  Of course the Browns were porous against the run, but nothing makes a good friend to an over the hill, third comeback QB like having the best back in the game behind you to hand it off to 25 times a game.
• Jay Cutler – He is missing having a receiver right now that knows how to run an accurate pass pattern.  The Bears faithful will be hard on him early and often.  Let’s see if he can be a team leader…which is already being questioned a lot by the talking heads on the radio.
• “I Want Winners!” – Mike Singletary and the Niners win the opener against the defending NFC Champion Cardinals on the road.  A nice win for San Francisco.

Tiger Woods vaulted back to the top of the Fed Ex Points race with a runaway win at Cog Hill.  This gives Eldrick five wins on that course in his career as well as a couple of 2nd place finished.  He obviously likes the golf course, but in the same vein it is obvious that win he brings his “A” game, the rest of the field is playing for second place.

Ichiro captured his 9th straight 200 + hit season.  He is the first Major League baseball player to do so.  How tough is this record…..the last person to smack 200 or more base hits for 8 straight seasons was Willie Keeler….from 1894-1901!

Tennis missed a chance at another battle of the titans with Federer and Nadal.  Nadal was promptly retired by Juan Martin del Potro in the Semi’s on Sunday at Flushing Meadows 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.  Del Patro is playing well, but this match up in the final won’t have the same feel as another battle of the current heavyweights of men’s tennis.

Women’s volleyball gets a mention this week as the Huskers fell for the first time in a home match in 90 contests.  The attendance of 13,870 set a new NCAA record for single game attendance for a volleyball match.  The UCLA Bruins won under the great play of tournament MVP Lauren Cook … who just happens to be the daughter of Nebraska Head Coach John Cook.

College football had some exciting games this past weekend as well.  The two biggest games on the national radar were of course the USC vs. Ohio State contest.  Ohio State seems to play very conservative and Pryor looked rattled often during the game.  USC starts an unproven quarterback as well, but being on the road, with a host of young players proved to be the better team on Saturday night.  Ohio State needs to beat a non Big Ten School….and soon.

I am still waiting for Lou Holtz to apologize for his outrageous comment about the Golden Domers making the BCS title game – undefeated.  I mean you have to get by Michigan first … and that shouldn’t be THAT difficult at this point.

Editor’s note: Johnny does get the predictions to me on Thursday, but I like to run this column on Fridays, because of the increased attention to football on Fridays.  Thus, you will see predictions of Thursday night games that have already occurred.

The NFL gets started this week with a battle on Thursday night.

Last week:

Straight Up – 11-4

Against the Spread 10-5

College

Georgia Tech (-5) vs Clemson – The Ramblin Wreck is a team I like this year … Swiney is in over his head this early. Georgia Tech 35- Clemson 14

East Carolina @ West Virginia (-6.5) National talk like a Pirate day is right around the corner. East Carolina 27- WV 24

Iowa (-6.5) @ Iowa State – Hawks escaped last week. This one will be close again – Iowa 24- ISU 21

Fresno State @ Wisconsin (-8) Badgers win, but I think it will be close Wisc 28 – Fresno St 24

USC (-6.5) @ Ohio St – The Buckeyes did not look sharp last week. USC did. OSU never shows up in big games with the vest at the helm. USC 31- OSU 20

Arkansas St @ Nebraska (-24.5) Ark State put up a 62 spot last week. They won’t this week but it will be closer than expected. Neb 38 – Ark State 21

Texas (-33.5) @ Wyoming- This one could get ugly … and should. Texas 56 – Wyoming 10

Syracuse @ Penn State (-28.5) No chance for last minute magic this week for the orange. PSU – 49 – Syracuse – 10

NFL

Tennessee @ Pittsburgh – (-6) A dogfight to start off the year. The Steelers win but in a slugfest. Pitt 14- Tenn 13

Miami @ Atlanta (-4) Sophomore jinx for Matt Ryan? We say … no but Miami 24 – ATL 21

Minnesota (-4) @ CLEVELAND – Welcome back for a third time Bret Favre. Minnesota 31- Cleveland 10

Jacksonville @ INDIANAPOLIS (-7) The Jags always seem to give the Colts fits, and Bob Sanders is out. Colts 20- Jacksonville 17

Detroit @ NEW ORLEANS (-13) I hate taking double digit favorites in the NFL … so I won’t New Orleans 35- Detroit 24

Washington @ NY GIANTS (-6½) Giants need to figure out their passing game. Washington’s defense is improved. NYG – 28 – Washington 20

Chicago @ GREEN BAY (-3½) The NFC Norris Division gets off to one of the best rivalries in the league. Green Bay 24- Chicago 21

Buffalo @ NEW ENGLAND (-10½) Buffalo runs no huddle…T.O. doesn’t like it, they fired their offensive coordinator..and they start against the hoodie. NE 42- Buffalo – 10

San Diego (-9½) @ OAKLAND The Superchargers make a statement early in the season. SD 31- Oak 10

Ahhhhh Yes …. College Football Season has FINALLY arrived. A great opening week of College football, which as usual, created a lot of excitement, water cooler talk, and for some…a lot of disappointment.

I was totally wrong my apologies go out to Columbia:

Missouri was a little bit impressive to me this past week. The Tigers “system” offense looked sharp while carving up the Illini. Early games are a bit tough to tell, is Mizzou that good, or is Illinois that bad … Still an impressive win for the Tigers who made a statement.

Statement game:

Oklahoma State has been riding the hype wagon and there has been a lot of debate on how coach Gundy has handled the pressure of his team being a novel pick in the Big XII South. They played well in beating a solid opponent in Georgia. A nice early win for the Cowboys.

I told you all so ….

Baylor wins at Wake Forest. The main thing in this game was not just the play of Robert Griffith, but the Bears looked faster than the Deamon Deacons in all aspects of the game. Conference foes better watch out.

Uh Oh … it is worse than we thought!:

Oklahoma showed how much they rely on Heisman trophy winner Sam Bradford, but more discouraging for Sooner fans is the inability to move the football on the ground, even with Bradford out. This looks like a talented team that needs an offensive line to come together, and quickly, or it could be big trouble in Norman this year.

We were looking ahead award:

Dual winners this week are Ohio State who eeked out a win against the Midshipmen of the Naval academy. They need to be a lot better next week against the Trojans in a top 10 match up.

The Iowa Hawkeyes have used up two of their nine lives this year. Looking ahead to Iowa State? I say yes as the Clones have had the better of the match up recently considering that annually the Hawks bring in a much better quality of football team.

Pardon me Seymour …

Richard Seymor, a fixture of the defense that helped the New England Patriots win multiple Super Bowl titles has been traded to the Oakland Raiders. “Sources” indicate that he might not show up in Oakland and is less than amused about being traded. Typically the only ones who want to get traded to the Raiders these days are veterans who are looking for a big payday, folks past their prime, or someone looking for a second chance in a new environment. I don’t think Richard fits any of these descriptions.

Lastly …

This week, the US Open Tennis Tournament continues, with a lot of exciting action. The biggest story without a doubt is the pilgrimage of 17 year old Melanie Oudin’s trip through her side of the draw. The high schooler is the 70th-ranked player which is impressive in its own right. This tournament she has had a slew of wins, all comebacks, against a variety of big names of the sport. No. 4 Elena Dementieva and No. 29 Maria Sharapova as well as No. 13 Nadia Petrova. Can the miracle run continue?

Goodman the Great gives his analysis of this week’s NCAA football games.

Editor’s note: For those who may not be familiar with point spreads, having a negative number next to your team is a good thing. For example, South Carolina @ North Carolina State (-3.5) means that North Carolina State is favored by 3.5 points.

South Carolina @ North Carolina State – (-3.5) The Ol ball coach gets it done in this heated rivalry opener. SC 24, NC St 14

North Dakota State @ Iowa State – (-8.5) The Clones are under a new regime, but they are still a Big XII school. ISU 28, NDSU -10

Oregon @ Boise State (-4.5) Two words…..smurf turf. Boise State 42, Oregon 35

Navy @ THE Ohio State (-22.5) The buckeyes get it rolling early and often on the overmatched Middies – OSU 42,  Navy 17

Georgia @ Oklahoma State (-4.5) I picked the Cowboys as my early surprise of the Big XII…we will see if I am right. OSU 35, Georgia 16

Nevada @ Notre Dame (-17.5) The Golden Domers win, but Nevada covers – ND 35, Nevada 21

Baylor @ Wake Forest (-5.5) A lot of Hype for Robert Griffith. This will determine if it is hype or hoax. Baylor 28, WF 27

Missouri @ Illinois (-5.5) Gone is Maclin, Daniel, Coffman … and the chance to beat Illinois this year. ILL 35,  Mizzou – 21

BYU @ Oklahoma (-21.5) Gresham will miss time, the Cougars are overmatched, but I think it will be closer than you think. OU 42,  BYU 24

Florida Atlantic @ Nebraska (-17.5) The Corn is golden in home openers. Neb 42,FAU 14

LSU (-14.5) @ Washington – Could be a surprise game. High expectations in Baton Rouge … but this is being played elsewhere. LSU 28, Wash 20

Ole Miss (-17.5) @ Memphis – Jevan Snead’s Heisman run begins on Saturday – Ole Miss 42, Memphis 10

Colorado State @ Colorado (-13.5) – Fierce rivalry. Hawkins is on the hot seat, but they get by this week. COL 31, COL St 28

Miami @ Florida State (-4.5) Remember when this was a big game, now it just pads Bobby Bowden’s win totals. FL St, 31 Miami 17

Western Michigan @ Michigan (-11.5) Rich Rodriguez needs a win, and some calmness in the program…I guess they are ready since all the guys have been practicing 80 hours a week. Mich  28, WMU 17