Spooky's it doesnt matter where you are, doesnt matter where you go weekly express

[Spooky]

Six-pack for Monday

Coming off another phenomenal week and looking to keep rolling.

Lets have some more fun this week and next.

Monday six-pack

-- ESPN picked a busy day to fire baseball analyst Steve Phillips.

-- Cleveland Indians hired Manny Acta as their new manager.

-- Mack McGwire will be the Cardinals' hitting coach next season.

-- There are already cracks in the concrete ramps at the money pit that is the $1.5B ballpark in the Bronx. Tax dollars at work. Great.

-- Oklahoma QB Bradford will have shoulder surgery and then enter the NFL Draft. Interesting to see how much the injury will cost him.

-- Boise State, Cincinnati both managed to drop three spots in BCS standings, despite impressive wins this weekend. Go figure.

[Spooky]

Monday's List of 13: Wrapping up an NFL Sunday.......


Best week of the year for Spooky and having the Cardinals win outright last night put the icing on the cake.

13) Colts' coach Jim Caldwell is 7-0 as an NFL head coach because Tony Dungy gifted him with the job; Caldwell once went 26-62 in eight years as the coach at Wake Forest, losing games 54-0/72-13 to Florida State, 50-0 to North Carolina, 52-0 to Maryland, 42-0 to Air Force, 55-7 to Clemson. In other words, Caldwell knows what its like to get his butt kicked week in and week out. Apparently now he's forgotten.

12) Caldwell is the bully on the block now because he gets to be the guy who coaches Peyton Manning-- pretty good gig for a guy who has his coaching resume. With 4:00 left, Caldwell's Colts went for it when they had 4th-and-1 and an unshakable 28-6 over the sadsack Rams, the kind of losing team Wake Forest had when Caldwell coached there.

11) Did Caldwell remember his past and show mercy on a hapless foe in a game where running up the score couldn't possibly help the Colts? No, he let his star QB throw a bomb, and when interference was called, he let Manning throw again, so he could get his third TD pass of the day.

10) If Manning gets hurt on one of those stat-padding plays, the season is over and Caldwell is a moron. So even though I'm bitching about it as a fan, its the Indianapolis fans who should have the real issue with it. But unless Manning gets hurt, no one will say a word.......

9) I'd like to thank Mike Martz from all the Rams fans for releasing Kurt Warner and keeping Marc Bulger when he coached the Rams. Warner is headed to Canton if he ever retires (he's in first place again, with Cardinals 3-0 on the road), while Bulger's Rams have now lost 17 games in a row. Thanks, coach.

But I'm sure they are not bitter or anything........

8) Sunday saw six games decided by 28+ points, the most in any week since December of 1970. Lot of bad football played this week.

7) Jets are first team since the OJ Simpson-Bills in 1975 to run ball for 300+ yards in consecutive weeks. At least they won this game.

6) 49ers trailed 21-0 at halftime in Houston, switched QBs, and damn near upset the Texans, losing 24-21. Alex Smith should be the starter in San Francisco next week-- he played very well Sunday.

5) Carolina outgained Buffalo 228-39 in first half Sunday yet trailed 7-2, as the Bill Cowher watch picks up steam in the Carolinas. Bills won the game fairly easily 20-9, outplaying Panthers in the second half.

4) No explanation for Bears trailing 31-3 at the half in Cincinnati, but it is beginning to look like the Cutler trade may not turn out too well for Chicago. Bengals averaged 9.7 yards per pass attempt Sunday. Denver, the team that traded Cutler is a shocking 6-0 and also has draft picks to use that they got from the Bears.

3) Miles Austin is better than Terrell Owens. Go figure.
Glad to see the young man from New Jersey doing well. My best friend knows him pretty well and worked out with him while he was in college.

2) Teams that scored defensive/special teams TDs (except Viking game, where both teams scored) are 5-0 so far this week.

1) New Orleans, right now, is clearly the best team in the NFL, coming back from 24-3 deficit to win 46-34 in Miami, scoring twice on defense as Saints overcame four turnovers in South Florida. They're very good.

[Spooky]

Spooky's helpful tips for Monday, October 26

Bingo!

The line of the Philadelphia Eagles-Washington Redskins game opened at +5 but has climbed to +9 following Washington's questionable reorganization of its offensive hierarchy. Here's how questionable it is: The Redskins took the playcalling duties away from Coach Jim Zorn and gave them to consultant Sherm Lewis, who was calling bingo numbers as a retiree in Michigan earlier this month. The total is 37.

Road worriers

There are six winless road teams in the NHL, including the defending Western Conference champion Detroit Red Wings. But none have been as bad as the Minnesota Wild, who are 0-7 on the road. The Wild have been outscored 25-12 on the road and have scored more than two goals in just one road match this season. Minnesota is 29th in road scoring (1.71 goals per game) and 23rd in road power-play conversions (5-of-30, 16.7 percent). The Wild are +177 vs. the Chicago Blackhawks.

Clippers curse continues?

Top overall pick Blake Griffin and point guard Baron Davis did not practice Sunday for the Los Angeles Clippers. While the injury-prone Davis (foot) is expected to play in Tuesday's opener, Griffin has swelling in the same left knee he hurt prior to training camp and is questionable for his NBA debut vs. the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. The Clippers are getting 9.5 points in a road game on their home floor.

For starters, try killing a penalty

At 0-7-1, the Toronto Maple Leafs are off to the worst start in franchise history, and a big reason is their inability to kill penalties. Toronto has allowed a league-high 13 goals in 35 shorthanded situations, a rate of 37.1 percent. The Leafs are +152 with a total of 6.0 at Anaheim, which is 15th in power-play percentage.

Knockout punches

Oklahoma State quarterback Zac Robinson wears number 11, but it might as well be a bull's-eye. Robinson will be the next quarterback to face the defense of Texas, which has knocked out quarterbacks Sam Bradford, Cody Hawkins and Blaine Gabbert in its last three games. Unbeaten Texas is giving 8.5 points to host Oklahoma State.

What's your point?

There is no line posted on Wednesday's Detroit-Memphis game, the season opener for both teams. That may be because the Grizzlies are unsettled in their backcourt. Offseason acquisition Allen Iverson said he feels well enough to play after missing the entire preseason with a partially torn hamstring but will listen to what the trainers advise. Mike Conley is expected to play although he did not practice Saturday due to an ankle injury. The Grizzlies have not won at home vs. the Pistons since 2004.

Notable quotable

"I don’t even know why we have replay right now in the Southeastern Conference if they’re not going to utilize it. That’s twice now that they’ve blown calls on the replay with our games, resulting in big plays, and I think that’s inexcusable for that official. I hope he’s severely punished if he ever works another SEC game again, because I think it’s completely unacceptable."

-- Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen, complaining about a questionable ruling by replay official Dan Dembinski in Saturday's 29-19 loss to Florida. Mullen felt Florida's Dustin Doe was stripped of the ball before crossing the end zone on a fourth-quarter interception, which was ruled a TD.

[Spooky]

Spooky's Worst Of Week 7

Coming off a great Spooky week I have to turn my sights onto the ugly and horrific.

Which leads me to the worst of week 7:

5. JaMarcus Russell - It's about fucking time that he got benched. No one turns the ball over more hilariously than JaMarcus. How bad do you have to be to hear these words: "take a seat, we're going with Bruce Gradkowski"? JaMarcus Russell-bad apparently.

4. Jake Delhomme - JaMarcus may be the funniest turnover machine in the league, but Jakey-poo is a close second. I would rather have herpes of the ass than have Delhomme quarterback my team. This guy is doing a fantastic Rex Grossman impression this season. When in doubt, throw it deep into triple coverage! It's a bold strategy and apparently it leads to embarassing home losses to the Goddamn Bills. Poor John Fox...he's going to get fired because upper management thought that this shithead was worth a contract extension.

3. Matt Ryan - Damn you, Ice. Damn you to Hell. Thanks a lot for playing like shit yesterday. Sure, I was betting against you. But, I would have loved it if you had not sucked and made a much-anticipated NFC showdown into a snoozer.

2. Brett Favre - Now THAT is the Wrangler that we all know and love! I was laughing maniacally in the mansion after his fumble-six which he kindly followed up with his pick-six. The gunslinger sure was slinging up some defensive touchdowns in the 4th quarter. Glorious. But I will admit, the Vikes played even with the champs for most of that game. But, of course, they are no Super Bowl contender due to the land baron chucking shitty pass after shitty pass in the clutch. By the way, All Day lighting up William Gay...awesome. If you don't get a boner watching Peterson play football, you are a homo. Does that make sense? It makes perfect sense. FUCK YOU, BRETT!

1. Everyone associated with the Chicago Bears - Everyone. The city of Chicago, Bill Swerski, Tony B., Lovie, Red Grange, Smokey the Bear...all of you were the worst of the weekend. You all just let Cedric Benson shove his boating DUI'ed cock up your collective asses. That was just an abortion of a performance. Possibly the worst game I've seen any team play this year. It is amazing how awesome Jay Cutler is in wins and how rotten he is in losses. He's like a grumpier Tony Romo. Except that he can't have sugar and has twice as many chins. The Bears blow. Someone tell Matt Forte to stop playing like the Bears version of Ced Benson.

Oh God. I just realized that I have to watch the Redskins tonight. I think that I would rather be raped.

[Spooky]

Spooky's Fab Five for Monday, October 26

Happy Monday everyone.

1. Quick Hits

The Yankees advance to the World Series for the first time since 2003 by beating the Angels 5-2 in game 6. Game 1 of the World Series, Phillies @ Yankees, Wednesday night.

All was not joyous in the New York area last night. The Arizona Cardinals picked off the Giants 24-17. The Saints stayed undefeated.

The Vikings lost their first game.

ESPN fires Steve Phillips after his affair with a production assistant.

The Cardinals are expected to hire Mark McGwire as hitting coach. McGwire has kept a low profile in recent years as the court of public opinion has "convicted" him of steroid use.

2. The Bronx is Burning

Just like the good old days. The Yankees will host their 40th World Series. The 7th for Derek Jeter and finally the first for Alex Rodriguez. Yankees vs. Phillies has all the makings of a great World Series. But not for everyone. Pick your poison Mets fans. For us it's basically a lose/lose proposition.
3. Monday Musings

There are cracks in the concrete walkways at the new Yankee Stadium.
Hey, what do you expect for $1.5 billion?
-----
Neither Bobby Valentine nor Don Mattingly got the Cleveland managerial job, former Washington manager Manny Acta did. We need Bobby V. back in baseball to stir the pot.
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Remember a few years ago they were calling for Joe Paterno's head at Penn State? After winning at Michigan Saturday 35-10 the Nittany Lions are 7-1 At age 82, JoPa just getting started.
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Enough already with these throwback jerseys. Were those the Jets, New York Titans or San Diego Chargers playing in Oakland? There's a reason why those old jerseys were redesigned. Time to throwback the throwbacks.

4. A Fine Mess

Who got fined more in the NFL, Titans safety Chris Hope for roughing up Tom Brady, or Chad Ochocinco for wearing the wrong color chin strap? (Second violation.)
Time's up. Both were fined $10-thousand. Rough tackles may kill quarterbacks, but fashion faux pas will simply not be tolerated!

5. In Memoriam

When I posted Soupy Sales' (big sports fan) passing last Friday, this came to mind on something he said.

Took my girlfriend to a game. I kissed her on the strikes and she kissed me on the balls.

And of course what got Soupy in trouble.
Fans of Soupy Sales are welcome to send in money to cover the cost of the funeral. Please go upstairs and send us all the green pieces of paper in Daddy's wallet.

Remember, Soupy did a kids show.

Happy Birthday: Angels fan Pat Sajak. How much face time did that guy get sitting behind home plate in Anaheim? 63.

Bonus Birthday: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 62.

Today in Sports: The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, became the first and only NHL player to reach 2000 points. He finished with 2857. 1990.

Bonus Events: Hide your eyes Yankee haters. The Yankees beat the Braves in 6 to win the World Series. 1996. And the Yankees beat the Mets in 5 to win the World Series. 2000. And to think the 2009 World Series has yet to begin.

[Spooky]

Been all over this all week long and gonna close off a great week.

NFL

WASHINGTON REDSKINS/PHILADELPHIA EAGLES OVER 37 POINTS

[Spooky]

Spooky's helpful tips for Tuesday, October 27

Defense wins championships

There were 15 games on the first two days of the NBA season a year ago, and the under was 10-5. There are four games Tuesday and 12 games Wednesday, with high totals of 210 for New York Miami and 209 for Utah-Denver, both on Wednesday.
Howard's end

Dallas Mavericks forward Josh Howard will miss Tuesday's season opener vs. the Washington Wizards and perhaps several weeks with a sore left ankle that underwent minor reconstructive surgery in May, ESPNDallas.com reported Monday. Dallas was 33-19 with Howard and 17-13 without him last season. In his place, the Mavs likely will start defensive-minded Quinton Ross. The Mavs are giving eight points with a total of 205.

Power failure

The Detroit Red Wings are -106 at Vancouver, which seems odd given their recent troubles. Detroit is 0-3-1 on the road, dropping the first two games of a five-game trip while managing just three goals and going 1-for-12 on the power play. Meanwhile, the Canucks have won three in a row overall and are 5-1 at home. They have killed 19-of-20 penalties over their last five games.

Jakin' it?

Carolina Panthers coach John Fox would not commit to quarterback Jake Delhomme as his starter at Monday's media briefing, according to the Rock Hill (S.C.) Herald. Delhomme threw three interceptions in Sunday's 20-9 loss to Buffalo, raising his season total to 13 plus two lost fumbles. The backups are Matt Moore and A.J. Feeley. The Panthers are getting 9.5 points with a total of 42.5 at Arizona on Sunday.

It's not Game Seven

On Opening Night, the host Portland Trail Blazers are giving 9.5 points with a total of 186.5 vs. the Houston Rockets, who knocked them out of the playoffs in six games last season. The Blazers will be without Nicolas Batum (shoulder surgery) but have lots of depth at small forward in Travis Outlaw and Martell Webster.

Of greater issue is that the teams closed that postseason series with four straight unders with a high total of 185. The Rockets are without Yao Ming and figure to rely on defense, pace and coaching to squeeze out wins.

Tuesday night football

East Carolina is just 2-10 against the spread in its last 12 road games. But that slide doesn't include its last visit to Memphis in 2007, which the Pirates won, 56-40, as a six-point favorite. ECU has covered the number in 10 of its last 11 meetings vs. Memphis, which has been scuffling without quarterback Tyler Bass, who is out for the season. The Pirates are giving four points and are 1-1 ATS as road favorites this season.

A bad break

The Atlanta Thrashers are about to find out how good they are without Ilya Kovalchuk, who underwent a CT scan Monday that revealed a broken bone in his right foot that will sideline him four weeks. Kovalchuk has nine of Atlanta's 28 goals and is the primary reason the Thrashers are fifth in the league in scoring at 3.5 goals per game and third on the power play at 28.1 percent. With Kovalchuk, Atlanta (4-3-0-1) is 7-1 against the goal line.

Hoosier daddy?

Indiana is just 4-4 straight up but 5-2 against the spread - missing by a single point vs. Ohio State - and may be in line for another cover at Iowa on Saturday. Hawkeyes running back Adam Robinson, who was on crutches at the end of last week's 15-13 win over Michigan State with an ankle injury, was not on the depth chart released Monday. The freshman had a season-high 189 yards vs. the Spartans and leads Iowa with 629 yards. His backups are
freshman Brandon Wegher and Paki O’Meara. Indiana is getting 17.5 points and won outright in its last visit to Iowa in 2007.

Notable quotable

"My father got more creditentials than most of these pro coaches. My father played for the coach from "rememeber the titans". Our coach played golf. My father played for redskins briefley. Our coach. Nuthn."

-- Gramatically challenged Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson, reportedly using his Twitter account to criticize Chiefs coach Todd Haley. The account has been made private and the team is gathering information.

[Spooky]

Six-pack for Tuesday

-- When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar lost on Jeopardy, he lost to the guy on Laverne and Shirley who played Lenny. Not good.

-- Do you think NBC Sports would ever refer to the city of Vancouver as "spectacular" if the Winter Olympics weren't being held there?

-- Mack Brown's Texas Longhorns are now 12-0 the week after their biggest rivalry game, Oklahoma. Thats impressive.

-- Since moving to St Louis in 1995, the Rams have sold out 114 of 120 home games, despite fielding a bad team more often than not.

-- Steelers have now given up a TD on special teams or offense in five consecutive games. Strange for a good team.

-- Cool thing about the NFL is that stars sometimes come from weird places: Kurt Warner went to Northern Iowa, Miles Austin played at Monmouth and Marques Colston went to Hofstra.

[Spooky]

Tuesday's List of 13: Our NFL List of 13........

32) Buccaneers-- I like the new QB, but this coach is overmatched-- he had to call the GM for permission to change QBs Sunday.

31) Rams-- Win a game already. Big test in Detroit this week. They have lot of needs, mostly on offense. Could use a great pass rusher, too.

30) Browns-- Eric Mangini will soon be coaching a D-III college team.

29) Titans-- Interesting to see how they play this week, coming off bye after their tank job in the Foxboro snow.

28) Raiders-- Al Davis fired Shanahan/Kiffin, and withholds money in both cases- the coaches sue him. His current head coach assaults one of his assistants, and is allowed to stay as head coach. Go figure.

8) Cardinals-- 3-0 on east coast this season. Future Hall of Famer Kurt Warner is in first place again. Whisenhurt is an excellent coach.

7) Bengals-- Explosive on offense; a 31-3 halftime lead over the Bears was an impressive display. Will miss pass rusher Odom, though.

6) Patriots-- They crushed two hideous teams the last two weeks, so we reserve judgment until they beat someone halfway decent on the road.

5) Vikings-- Rematch with Packers is early in season; they need to get Peterson more carries, keeping Favre out of harm's way.

4) Steelers-- I wish I had stock in Terrible Towels.

3) Broncos-- They're dangerous as long as people continue to give them no respect. Underdogs again this week, this time in Baltimore.

2) Colts-- Best team in AFC so far. Better balanced than in the past.

1) Saints-- Arch-rival Falcons come to town Monday night, in front of a souped-up Superdome crowd. Most underrated rivalry in the NFL.

[Spooky]

Spooky's helpful tips for Wednesday, October 28

A vote for Pedro

Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel announced Tuesday that Pedro Martinez will start Game 2 of the World Series. Martinez is 1-1 with a no-decision in his last three starts against the New York Yankees, all as a member of the New York Mets. In the 2004 ALCS with Boston, Martinez was 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA in three appearances vs. the Yankees. He has made one start in this postseason, tossing seven scoreless innings vs. Los Angeles. By pitching Game 2, Martinez would be able to pitch Game 6 on an extra day of rest.

Ready for liftoff?

When the Houston Rockets visit the Golden State Warriors, they will be looking to extend a pair of streaks. The Rockets have won the previous six meetings, going 5-1 against the spread. Houston also is 4-1 against the spread in the second of back-to-back road games, dating to December. The Rockets are getting 6.5 points with a total of 216.5.

Grounded

Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook may miss Sunday night's key NFC East game vs. the New York Giants with a concussion suffered Monday night at Washington, the Philadelphia Daily News reported. Westbrook sat out Week 3 with an ankle injury and has just 81 yards on 15 carries since. He would be replaced by LeSean McCoy, who actualy leads the Eagles in rushing yards. Philadelphia is giving one points with a total of 44.

Road warriors

The Buffalo Sabres put their 3-0-0 road mark on the line against the New Jersey Devils. The Sabres have allowed just four goals on the road this season, offsetting a road power play that ranks 29th. They also have won their last two visits to New Jersey. Buffalo is +112 with a total of 5.5.

Howling Wolf

The Minnesota Timberwolves will have center Al Jefferson for their season opener vs. the New Jersey Nets. Jefferson had been bothered by an Achilles tendon injury but has been pain free lately. Last season was shortened by a torn Achilles tendon. The Timberwolves are giving two points - just the second time in the last 20 games that they are favored - and are 9-2 against the spread in their last 11 meetings with New Jersey.

Notable quotable

"It’s just weird because a couple years ago we were talking about maybe pitching in a World Series together. Now we’re in different clubhouses. We’re close. You know, we always have been. We came up together."

-- New York Yankees lefthander C.C. Sabathia, on his friendship with Philadelphia Phillies lefthander Cliff Lee. The two were teammates and good friends for six years in Cleveland.

[Spooky]

Six-pack for Wednesday

-- As if things couldn't get worse, Redskins' TE Chris Cooley broke a bone in his ankle and is out for at least a month.

-- Phillies took the train to New York Monday; when was last time a World Series team took the train to a road game?

-- Bud Selig's sport needs a good World Series; the last five Series all lasted five or less games.

-- 8 of the 12 SEC basketball teams return 4 or 5 starters this year, so that figures to be a very strong league this winter.

-- Home underdogs in college football were 4-13 vs spread last week.

-- When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was on Jeopardy, he lost to the guy who played Lenny on Laverne and Shirley. Not good.

[Spooky]

Wednesday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but........

13) If you're a Cleveland Indian fan, you're excused from watching the World Series Wednesday, since Lee/Sabathia matchup is two pitchers who were on the Indians until July '08. It is the first time two reigning Cy Young winners were traded in consecutive seasons. So of course the Tribe fired manager Eric Wedge-- it had to be his fault, right?

12) Every NFL team has a scouting board where they rank prospects, just like all college teams have a board for HS/JC kids; wouldn't it be a lot of fun to see your favorite team's draft board, just to know what’s on their mind for next April?

11) Carolina Panthers need a franchise QB, but don't have a first round pick in next April's draft, the strongest in years. Whoops.

10) Irony of the BCS system is that once you beat a team, then you're really rooting for that team, since their wins make you look better. For example, every game Oregon wins makes Boise State look better.

9) Glad to see the NBA resolve the differences with its officials.

8) Oregon State's basketball team is making the long trip to Washington DC for the second year in a row, a not-too-subtle reminder of who the Oregon State coach is related to........the President of the United States.

7) My dad and I disagree about how much grief Mark McGwire will be getting from the media next spring/summer. I say he'll have a few really unpleasant days-- my dad says people have moved on. We'll see.

6) Interesting item from Detroit, where Lions' coach Jim Schwartz put a lot more free weights in the Detroit weight room, trying to get his team to be physically stronger. He said they'd been pushed around in past.

5) The Titans are 0-6, lost their last game 59-0 but are favored to win on Sunday against a Jacksonville team they already lost to once. Go figure.

4) NFL home underdogs are 7-15 vs spread in non-division games, 7-6 in division games......home favorites are 8-13 vs spread in division games, 25-19 in non-divisional contests. Just thought you'd like to know.

3) Odd stat of the week: If you look at NFC North teams' home games against non-division opponents, the underdog is 6-0 vs spread in those games. Look at their road games- the underdog is 0-9 vs spread there.

2) Rutgers' basketball team plays its first ten games at home; their first away game is a Dec 28 game at North Carolina.

1) In a perfect world, Michael Jordan would tell his son to wear what his teammates wear at Central Florida and play in Adidas sneakers, and of course, Adidas would tell Central Florida it’s OK if Marcus Jordan wore Nikes. But this world being what it is, neither is likely to happen.

[Spooky]

Spooky's Fab Five for Wednesday, October 28

Happy Wednesday everyone

1. Quick Hits

Game 1 of the World Series is tonight, Phillies @ Yankees 7:57pm ET FOX

The IOC will convene a medical conference to deal with the thorny issue of gender identification.

In a new autobiography, Andre Agassi admits to using crystal meth while he was on tour in 1997. Not surprisingly he didn't win a major that year.

Here's how not to make friends and influence people. Do what Kansas City running back Larry Johnson did. He criticized his coach on twitter and used gay slurs. Needless to say he's been barred from the team.

2. The Fall Classic

Bunting in the Bronx. George Steinbrenner in the house. Here we go with the World Series. If you think this is rough for Mets fans, How do you think Indians fans feel about the series? CC for the Yankees and Cliff Lee for the Phillies. (Tonight's starting pitchers.) The Indians had both and now one of them is going to win the World Series.

The Yanks are # 1 in payroll, the Phillies # 7. The only "low rent" team to make the postseason in 2009 was the Twins. The money gap continues to be a major flaw in baseball.

3. Belt Tightening

As I mentioned yesterday the new NBA season arrives without being recession proof. Many NBA teams are not hiring the maximum 15 players for their roster. Several teams have cut the number of assistant coaches. Now bah, humbug. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Cleveland Cavaliers are sending Christmas cards by email. They'll save
$40-thousand. Or the amount of money LeBron James makes playing 10 minutes of any single game.

4. Welcome Back Brett

This Sunday, long time Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre will return to town to face his old team as a member of the Minnesota Vikings. The Mayor of Green Bay is asking for "tasteful" suggestions on how to welcome him back. Since Favre can never make up his mind, suggestions have ranged from making the world's largest waffle with the No. 4 on it, to total silence when he comes onto the field. I thought the suggestion of wearing flip flops was pretty cool. Especially if it's as cold as that Packer/Giant game a couple of years back.

5. Happily Wedded Bli$$

Thank you TMZ. I can now sleep at night knowing that Lamar Odom of the Lakers and Khloe Kardashian have a prenup. Odom's $33-million from the Lakers is "out of bounds." And Khloe won't be getting Lakers tickets from her husband. Sounds like this marriage is off to a solid start.

Happy Birthday: 1976 Olympic Decathlon winner Bruce Jenner. 60.

Bonus Birthday: Pretty Woman. Actress Julia Roberts. 42.

Today in Sports: The Atlanta Braves win their first and only World Series. 1995.

Bonus Event: Ground is broken for the new Flushing Meadow Park Municipal Stadium. It could have been called "The Flush" but they liked the name Shea Stadium better. 1961.

[Spooky]

So its Hump Day and not liking much of anything.

Should be a great World Series and cashed a big ticket with the Phillies and hard not to go against them once again.

But it aint gonna be easy.

Small plays but lets roll with these.

MLB

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES +175 (SERIES WAGER)

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES +171 (GAME 1)

Value is too great not to take Phillies in series.

[Spooky]

Thursday's List of 13: Random thoughts on a soggy night.......

13) Seriously, if you're the guy who owns the Indians, and you opt not to pay either Sabathia or Lee, why bother owning a team?

12) Prior to Game 1 of the World Series, Bronx/Philly had each played nine games in 23 days; baseball is a game of daily rhythms, playing so few games in a three-week span is ridiculous.

11) According to Mapquest, NY and Philly are 94.2 miles apart, but we still have two travel days in the World Series. In 2000, when Mets and Bronx played, they had a travel day, even though the two stadiums are only eight miles apart. Anything television wants, television gets.

10) Underdogs are 6-0 vs spread in Florida State's games this season.

9) Shaquille O'Neal looks odd in a Cavaliers' uniform; it still bothers me that he can't make a foul shot. No one who makes as much money as he does to play hoops should be worse at foul shooting than I am.

8) Speaking of the Cavs, George Karl's son Coby, who played at Boise State, made the Cleveland roster. Young Karl had a run-in with cancer, but is now healthy. Good for him.

7) Rockets lost by nine in Portland Tuesday, but Aaron Brooks was +7 in his 41:41 on the court, which means in the 6:19 Brooks was out of the game, Houston got outscored by 16 points. They're very thin because of the injuries to their star players.

6) Lakers are something like 33-9 against the Clippers in Staples Center, an arena both teams call home.

5) Someone needs to explain to me why Notre Dame and Washington State are playing in San Antonio this weekend. Get a map; find Texas, then find Pullman and South Bend. None of the three are close.

4) Former NBA ref Tim Donaghy wrote a book about his experience in the NBA; the league got wind of it, and now the publishing company pulled the plug on the project. Donaghy got fired and sent to jail; now he's trying to sell his story for cash. Terrific.

3) Chase Utley is the first lefty hitter since 1928 to hit two homers off a lefty pitcher in a World Series game.

2) Awkward moment of the week: ESPN was running news of Andre Agassi's admitting in his new book he tried crystal meth on bottom of the screen; my father is reading all this and he asks me, "What is crystal meth?" Not even sure why Agassi's book is news, but I guess it is.

1) Not to beat a dead horse here, but Time-Warner doesn't have the NFL Network yet-- what are we waiting for? Lose a couple of C-Spans and soccer channels and give us something we want to watch.

[Spooky]

Spooky's helpful tips for Thursday, October 29

QB or not QB, Part I

The winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have a bye this week, are going to their third quarterback of the season. Coach Raheem Morris announced Wednesday that Josh Freeman will replace Josh Johnson, who replaced Byron Leftwich. None of the changes have been prompted by injury. Freeman was 2-of-4 for 16 yards with two sacks and a fumble in last week's loss to New England. Tampa Bay is 1-6 against the spread and hosts Green Bay on Nov. 8.

QB or not QB, Part II

Turnover-prone Jake Delhomme will be the quarterback for the Carolina Panthers on Sunday vs. Arizona, coach John Fox announced Wednesday. Delhomme threw three interceptions in last week's loss to Buffalo, running his league-leading total to 13. A.J. Feeley and Matt Moore are the backups for the Panthers, who are 10-point underdogs with a total of 41.

QB or not QB, Part III

Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher will not decide on his quarterback until after Thursday's practice. Fisher has been loyal to Kerry Collins, who has five TDs, eight interceptions and a rating of 62.0. Vince Young has played only at the tail end of blowouts and is 0-of-5 with a pick. However, owner Bud Adams said recently that he would like to see Young play more. The winless Titans are giving three points to the Jacksonville Jaguars with a total of 45.

Take out the Thrash

The Atlanta Thrashers already are without top goal-scorer Ilya Kovalchuk (foot) and may be without top playmaker Nik Antropov (groin) in Thursday's home match vs. the Washington Capitals. Antropov, who has seven assists, has missed three straight practices. Atlanta's fifth-ranked offense may have trouble generating scoring opportunities against fourth-ranked Washington, which is -166 with a total of 6.0.

Rosy outlook

Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose, who has been nursing a sore ankle, will start Thursday vs. the San Antonio Spurs. Rose said he feels about 80 percent and is missing explosion. The Bulls may limit his minutes but have capable backup ballhandlers in Kirk Hinrich and John Salmons. Playing its season opener, Chicago is getting 3.5 points with a total of 193.

How low can you go?

A trio of under trends are coming together for Thursday's North Carolina-Virginia Tech matchup. The under is 10-1 in Tech's last 11 Thursday games. The under is 15-5 in Tech's last 20 home games. And the under is 4-1 in the last five meetings between the schools, all won by the Hokies. Virginia Tech is giving 16.5 points with a total of 43.

Notable quotable

"(Brett) Favre is still a good quarterback, but he was unbelievable in the day. When we played back then, teams feared us. I don't know if teams fear the Minnesota Vikings today. We knew no one could beat us at home, absolutely nobody."

-- former Green Bay Packers tight end Mark Chmura, speaking to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and refuting Favre's claim that the Vikings are the best team he has ever been on.

[Spooky]

Six-pack for Thursday

Gone all day and will be back tonight with anything I think is worth posting.

NFL trends with Week 8 creeping up on us.....

-- Colts covered seven of their last eight games.

-- Browns covered two of their last seven road contests.

-- Packers are 7-1-1 vs spread in last nine divisional games.

-- Broncos covered seven of last nine as the underdog.

-- Giants covered 15 of their last 20 road games.

[Spooky]

Spooky and bowl season has been synonymous for years now.
And its never too early to look ahead.

Copying this from Rivals since I found it interesting to see their thoughts on what to expect for this week.

Here are Rivals bowl projections this week.


A few notes:


A bowl's tie-in with a league doesn't necessarily mean it will get the third-, fourth-, fifth-, etc., place team from the league; rather, it means it gets the third, fourth, fifth, etc., selection from that league.

Notre Dame technically is part of the Big East's bowl lineup.

An asterisk denotes a team that will be in the bowl because a league will not be able to fulfill its obligation. This week, we're saying the ACC, Big 12 and Mountain West fall short of filling their bowl slots. In some situations, other conferences have deals to provide teams if the "original" conference can't fill its spots; in those instances, the fill-in conference first fills its own bowl slots. If the fill-in conference doesn't have enough bowl-eligible teams, the bowl then is allowed to pick an at-large team that is bowl eligible.




THE PROJECTIONS
NEW MEXICO BOWL
DATE/TIME: Dec. 19/4:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Albuquerque, N.M.
MATCHUP: Western Athletic vs. Mountain West No. 4

THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Fresno State vs. San Diego State


ST. PETERSBURG BOWL
DATE/TIME: Dec. 19/8 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: St. Petersburg, Fla.
MATCHUP: Big East No. 6 vs. Conference USA

THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: USF vs. UCF


NEW ORLEANS BOWL
DATE/TIME: Dec. 20/8:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: New Orleans
MATCHUP: Conference USA vs. Sun Belt No. 1

THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Southern Miss vs. Troy


LAS VEGAS BOWL
DATE/TIME: Dec. 22/8 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Las Vegas
MATCHUP: Mountain West No. 1 vs. Pac-10 No. 4/5

THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Utah vs. Arizona

[Spooky]

POINSETTIA BOWL
DATE/TIME: Dec. 23/8 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: San Diego
MATCHUP: Mountain West No. 2 vs. Pac-10 No. 6

THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: BYU vs. Stanford


HAWAII BOWL
DATE/TIME: Dec. 24/8 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Honolulu
MATCHUP: Conference USA vs. Western Athletic

THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: SMU vs. Nevada


LITTLE CAESARS PIZZA BOWL
DATE/TIME: Dec. 26/1 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Detroit
MATCHUP: Big Ten No. 7 vs. Mid-American

THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Minnesota vs. Central Michigan


MEINEKE CAR CARE
DATE/TIME: Dec. 26/4:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Charlotte
MATCHUP: ACC No. 6 vs. Big East No. 3

THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Florida State vs. Pittsburgh


EMERALD BOWL
DATE/TIME: Dec. 26/8 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: San Francisco
MATCHUP: ACC No. 7 vs. Pac-10 No. 4/5

THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Connecticut* vs. Oregon State


MUSIC CITY BOWL
DATE/TIME: Dec. 27/8:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Nashville, Tenn.
MATCHUP: ACC No. 5 vs. SEC No. 6/7

THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Boston College vs. Tennessee


INDEPENDENCE BOWL
DATE/TIME: Dec. 28/5 p.m.
TV: ESPN2
SITE: Shreveport, La.
MATCHUP: Big 12 No. 7 vs. SEC No. 8

THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Kansas vs. Auburn

[Spooky]

EAGLEBANK BOWL
DATE/TIME: Dec. 29/4:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Washington, D.C.
MATCHUP: Army/C-USA vs. ACC No. 8

THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Marshall vs. Northern Illinois


CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL
DATE/TIME: Dec. 29/8 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Orlando, Fla.
MATCHUP: ACC No. 4 vs. Big Ten No. 5

THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Clemson vs. Michigan


HUMANITARIAN BOWL
DATE/TIME: Dec. 30/4:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Boise, Idaho
MATCHUP: Western Athletic vs. Mountain West No. 5

THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Idaho vs. Air Force


HOLIDAY BOWL
DATE/TIME: Dec. 30/8 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: San Diego
MATCHUP: Big 12 No. 3 vs. Pac-10 No. 2

THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Oklahoma vs. Oregon


ARMED FORCES BOWL
DATE/TIME: Dec. 31/noon
TV: ESPN
SITE: Fort Worth, Texas
MATCHUP: Conference USA vs. Mountain West No. 3

THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: East Carolina vs. Colorado State


SUN BOWL
DATE/TIME: Dec. 31/2 p.m.
TV: CBS
SITE: El Paso, Texas
MATCHUP: Big 12 No. 5 vs. Pac-10 No. 3

THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Texas Tech vs. California


TEXAS BOWL
DATE/TIME: Dec. 31/3:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Houston
MATCHUP: Navy vs. Big 12 No. 8

THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Navy vs. Texas A&M