Bet on Silver and Black

I was going to do a football recap today, but how can I possibly do justice to this weekend when the Seahawks and Raiders haven't battled yet? I truly won't know where the balance of power lies until I see who wins the Andrew Walter/Seneca Wallace matchup. So until then, let's get some bets in. Oh, and if you want the best recap of the weekend, the Smorgasboard over at MJD is great as always.

(Btw, a few old posts may disappear today. There are three or four that are just being consumed by some sort of spam spider/worm/whatever. I've had to delete over 300 spam messages from this weekend. Maybe losing the posts will help. Don't worry tho, you'll still be able to see those insightful, inspiring columns when I release my compilation book, "Now I Can Blog in Peace- How Blogger's Insomniac Found Salvation, and a Paycheck.")

Ok, on to the picks:

Oakland +7.5 at Seattle. This pick is more of a reflection on where the Seahawks are and not some sort of endorsement for the Raiders. The Seahawks are a team in disarray right now and are just trying to hold on until Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasselbeck return. Since the Rams lost yesterday, they know that even if they lose tonight, they will still be on top of the worst division in football, the NFC West. I don't know if the Raiders actually study film and gameplan, but if they do, they'll see that the Seahawks are having trouble stopping the run. Lamont Jordan and Justin Fargas aren't exactly Brandon Jacobs and Tiki Barber, but they'll be enough to keep the game close.

Portland +11 at LA Clippers. For the first time in a decade, the Blazers actually have a player that cares about winning. Brandon Roy is going to have a huge impact on this team, not just for what he does on the court, but the effect he'll have on the players around him. The Blazers might still be a lottery team this year, but they're finally on the right path. As opposed to slowing the game down like some inferior teams do, the Blazers will stay close by keeping pace with the Clippers. For that reason, I also like the over (193).

San Antonio Spurs -6.5 at New York Knicks. Last year, Larry Brown wanted his team to focus on defense, but they pretty much refused to do so. This season, Isiah Thomas has decided to be the anti-Larry, which means trying to score as many points as possible while having a total disregard for the defensive end of the court. I normally don't like betting on a team on the 2nd of back-to-back road games. But when it's Tim Duncan vs Eddy Curry, I'll take my chances.

...Hey whaddaya know, I picked three road teams again. I will never learn from my mistakes. It's like I'm auditioning to be the coach of the Arizona Cardinals.