October 22, 2011

The Crew has hit a bit of lull lately, especially in the NFL, where we had a positively dreadful Sunday, going 0-2-1. Rough patches, however, happen, even to the best of us. Again, there's a reason casinos take action -- and it's not because the betting public wins with regularity.

Don't fret, because the boys are releasing their Super Play of the Year today. Couple thoughts from the week before getting to that:

Both San Francisco's Jim Harbaugh and Detroit's Jim Schwartz are massive tools. Their little spat at midfield Sunday revealed the worst in both: Harbaugh is an arrogant prick and Schwartz is a hypocritical douche.

Anyone who watched the game will recall that in the first half the cameras captured Schwartz emphatically mocking Harbaugh after the 49ers were penalized for throwing a challenge flag on a scoring play, which this year is unchallengeable. It was, therefore, hilarious to hear Schwartz talk about a protocol of conduct between coaches during his press conference afterward (It was like listening to Rick Pitino talk about the moral failings of cheating on your spouse, which, coincidentally, also happened this week)

Still, Harbaugh was and is obnoxious. He seems like the guy everyone knew in college who talks constantly about lifting weights and the size of his crank. He apparently, however, is about the best coach alive, turning middling Stanford into a power house in three years and now elevating the Niners into the NFL's elite class after just six games...

Whether Al Davis is dead or alive, the Raiders still don't have a clue. They gave up a no. 1 in 2012 -- and possibly in 2013 too -- for quarterback Carson Palmer, who has not been an effective NFL starter in three years. This after already surendering their 2012 third round selection to take Terrell Pryor in the suplemental draft.

They have, therefore, used both their first and third round picks in esentially the same draft on quarterbacks. To say that's ludicrous is to say that Michelle Bachmann is only slightly unlikely to be elected president. It's beyond that...


Super Play of the Year

Alot of people in Vegas get drunk, lower their inhibitions and do totally regrettable, awful things . Usually, however, it's the tourists. This week, it's the linemakers, who have installed Stanford as a nearly three-touchdown favorite against The Crew's neighbors, the Washington Huskies. On the face of it, it makes sense. The Cardinal, led by perhaps the best college quarterback since Peyton Manning in Andrew Luck, are at home and have a 6-0 record ATS this season. But when you consider that they have perhaps played the worst schedule out any of the BCS schools -- Arizona, who is 2-5 and has already fired their coach, may be the best team they played thus far -- this is far too many points to give a very solid, underrated Washington team.

The Huskies have scored 30 points or more in every game this season and their only loss came when they played 11 on 12 in Lincoln against Nebraska and the refs, who made two horrendous calls that basically handed the Cornhuskers a win. We said last week that Washington would beat either Oregon or Stanford. We don't know if this is it, but they certainly won't lose by more than 20.

 Washington +20




Other picks
USC +9.5
Auburn +21


Super Play: 7-6-1 (54 percent)
Overall: 21-21 (50 percent)