Happy Birthday, Dad!

It's my dad's @#th birthday, so this post is in honor of him.

College Week 5
Florida State over South Florida - It will be interesting to see how good the 'Noles are when they actually play a defense. Not sure that will happen until a BCS game.
Ohio State over Michigan State -  A defensive battle is expected in this game, so I'm taking the team that has looked much more "put together" on offense.
Clemson over Boston College - It would be like Clemson to have a let down game this week, but I think they've turned a corner as a program and probably won't lose another game all year.
Nebraska over Wisconsin - I'm really hoping this is where Wisconsin turns it around and gets their act together, but the Huskers will be too fast on offense and without Monte Ball, the Badgers are weak.
Texas A&M over Arkansas - Also hoping this where Arkansas turns it around, but I really doubt that will happen this year.
Texas over Oklahoma State - The Cowboys' defense has been suspect lately... the Longhorns' has not been.
Arizona State over California - They've played very well at home, and sketchy on the road, but Cal has played sketchy everywhere.
West Virginia over Baylor - First one to 50 wins.
Penn State over Illinois - Some might think this is a soft upset pick, those people must respect Nathan Scheelhaase as a football player (I don't, because he played at Rockhurst and chose Illinois).
Cincinnati over Virginia Tech - Here's the real upset pick, the Hokies have not stopped the run like they used to and Cincy can run the ball with the best of them.

Last Week: 6-4 (39 pts)
Season: 22-18 (143 pts)

NFL Week 4
I would be remiss if I didn't touch on the controversy that is the quality of officiating the replacement referees are providing. You know something is wrong when it's the first topic of conversation the 4 nurses I work with wanted to discuss when I walked in Tuesday morning. Not that they are clueless about sports, but it's the first time I can recall any of them having anything to say about the NFL at all.
And that's why this won't be an easy fix. When we watch (or talk about, or tweet about, or call in to radio shows about) the NFL, they get money in some way, shape or form. It is a multi-billion dollar corporation, and the big wigs (the owners and their puppet Goddell) only care about the bottom line. If it makes money, great; if it loses money, absolutely not... even if the idea makes total sense and makes the fans happy. As long as people show up for games, watch them on TV, and buy NFL appearall the 1% of football society will win. And they won't change a thing.
Without losing the sport we all love, there is not much we can to protest or affect any change. I suggest we just hold on tight and wait for the ride to be over.
On a side note, I think it's absolutely hilarious how up in arms football fans are... but really, are we ever NOT complaining about officiating in football? I predict that when the real referees come back, there will just as many blown calls and complaining from the fans (maybe not as much mutual, non-biased complaints, but still).
As far as the specific play at the end of the Packers/Seahawks game, I'm just shaking my head. Since I don't really have a horse in that race, I wasn't particularly mad. I do think that the main problem was the missed pass interference call... I'm pretty sure I would have looked like a deer caught in the headlights when trying to make the right call on the catch... but I'd like to think I'd have thrown the flag on the Seahawks there. What I try to think about is how would I feel if I were a die-hard Seahawks fan? I'm sure I would be justifying all the nuiances of the rule book and skewing all my arguments to defend the touchdown call. But would I know deep down that I was wrong? Probably not.

Ravens over Browns - My LOCK of the week. What's the over/under on Weeden turnovers? Five?
Falcons over Panthers - This one is a case of pick the undefeated team if your not 100% sure of the upset.
Patriots over Bills - Anyone who thinks the Patriots are capable of going 1-3 should be institutionalized.
Lions over Vikings - I don't think they have the talent to pull off consecutive huge upsets, but the Vikings are scary. The Lions deserve to win an easy one eventually.
Chargers over Chiefs - HA! The Chiefs won the battle of attrition last week with SIX field goals. It's never good when you score 3 touchdowns and give up 1, but still lose. You can put as much optimistic spin on that game as you want. At no point did Cassel look like a quality QB, and the Chiefs defense benefitted from some ridiculous Saints play calling (9 passes in your last 9 plays when you just needed to run the clock out?????).
Rams over Seahawks - Here's my upset pick. Seahawk fans are on borrowed time until they lose.
49ers over Jets - Either the Vikings are going to look pretty good, or the Dolphins aren't going to look as bad.
Texans over Titans - Another case of picking the undefeated team because I can't find a good reason to pick against them.
Broncos over Raiders - It's awfully convenient that Denver plays their home division games early... less cold weather for Manning's fused neck.
Cardinals over Dolphins - Again, I can't go against the undefeated team, but I'm not so confident that they won't just fall apart here like they're gauranteed to down the road.
Bengals over Jaguars - Gabbert had less than 100 yards passing in a win last week (80% of it on one throw). His burnout in Jacksonville will be a bonfire.
Packers over Saints - I would hate to be the Saints right now. There is no way I'd want to play a pissed off Packers team (especially Clay Matthews and Aaron Rodgers). By the way, the loser of this game is probably out of the playoffs.
Buccaneers over Redskins - At some point there will be plenty of room on the RG3 bandwagon... I'm staying on but realistically understanding how limited the team is right now. (This was the toughest pick by the way)
Eagles over Giants - They did beat the Ravens.
Cowboys over Bears - The battle of the most overrated QBs (other than Matt Cassel) will go the way of which is less of a pussy.

Stat of Week 3: Matt Cassel, Blaine Gabbert, Jake Locker, and Russell Westbrook have combined for 5 wins... Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady have combined for 3 wins. Crazy, no?

Last Week: 10-6
Season: 27-21