This Week's Picks-Week Twelve

 

 

As we Southerners say, last week was something.

First, Georgia Tech actually beat a real good team: Miami.

Then, Ole Miss absolutely annihilated, killed, whooped-up-on, stomped, and otherwise beat Georgia.

The game wasn't that close.  The offensive line couldn't block. The running backs couldn't run. The receivers couldn't catch. The quarterback couldn't throw.  The defense couldn't tackle. I'm still determining where the pass defense was in the game. It wasn't around the Ole Miss receivers, that's for sure. 

Carson Beck learned a lesson about being a quarterback.

When you are winning, the quarterback is the best, most important person on earth. They get all of the praise, honor, and glory.

It is all your fault when you lose, especially when you throw an interception and fumble a couple of times.

It doesn't help that:

1. Everyone knows you own a Lamborghini.
2. Your girlfriend is hot even though, let's face it, you are not the best-looking guy on campus.
3. The camera catches you smiling with your best bud while sitting on the bench.
   

I don't make up the rules.

 

On Sunday, it was reported that Brian Bohanon had "stepped down" as the head coach of the Kennesaw State Owls. Soon, Bohanon posted on X that he had been fired and had not stepped down.  Then the Athletic Director, Milton Overton, released a statement saying Bohanon was given the opportunity to "step down."

The bottom line is Brian Bohanon is gone.  

Hey, we wanted a college football team.  This is the type of stuff that happens. Best of luck to Brian Bohanon.  He did his best with what he had, which is all you can ask.

Best of luck to the Owls. We are going to need it. 

This Week's Picks!

Jawja vs Tennysee:  It really depends on which Georgia team shows up to this game. If it is the Georgia team that beat Texas, Georgia will win.  If it is the Georgia team that played Florida and Ole Miss teams, they'll lose.  I still kind of sort of believe that this team can make the playoffs. Maybe. Georgia wins.

Mersir vs. Bamy:  After the LSU game, Alabama has a breather with Mercer.  Alabama wins.

Ellesyou vs Floryder:  Lost in the Georgia-Ole Miss, and the Alabama-LSU game was Florida getting crushed by Texas. It has been a horrible season for Florida. I just don't see them beating LSU, do you?  LSU wins. 

Texsass vs Piggies:  Beef against pork would be a good BBQ challenge.  This time beef wins.  Texas wins.

My Beloved Owls vs Sam Houston: After all of the excitement from last week, Kennesaw State still has two games to play.  The interim head coach, Chandler Burks, is the only FBS head coach under thirty.  He also has some sweet tats.  Life goes on.  Owls win.

 

 

 

 

What Happened?

 

I don't know about you, but I was happy to see this election season end, which came to an end with a THUD.

I was prepared to wait a couple of weeks to learn who was going to be the 47th President. Remember "the hanging chads"?  (Which would have been a great name for a folk group in the early '60s. "And The Cafe Wha presents....The Hanging Chads!")

But, it was all over by 2:00 in the morning.  We re-elected Donald J. Trump. 

Think of it.  How bad to you have to be to lose to a blubbery, loudmouth, misogynistic, egotistical Fascist with bad hair like Donald Trump?  That's gotta hurt.

But to paraphrase Jim Geraghty, the Democrats would have had a chance 1) if illegal immigration hadn’t surged, 2) if inflation hadn’t been the worst it’s been in four decades, and 3) if the world weren’t on fire from The Middle East to the Ukraine.  Other than that, the Dems had it all going their way.   

In the past ten years, I have learned about the term "gaslighting," which means anything a conservative says that contradicts something a liberal says.  Conservatives are bad gaslighters because they want to hurt people and crush their dreams. 

But it seems to me that the Democrats spent a lot of the Biden Administration gaslighting us. Inflation wasn't that bad. (Biden said, "Inflation ain't bad, pal, come on.")  It wasn't a surge of illegal immigrants, it was just friends we hadn't met yet from south of the border. The President is not senile; he's just walking around D.C in his pajamas like Uncle Junior because he's a man of the people. 

It really isn't hard to understand why Kamala Harris lost.

One, to cut Harris some slack, it is hard to get a campaign up and running in the amount of time Harris had.  Sure, she had help from a overly solicitous news media,which bought her campaign's malarkey about "brat summer", but the nuts and bolts were not in place and at the end Harris took in a billion dollars but ended the campaign $20 million in debt. 

I guess Skittles, rainbows, unicorns and vibes are expensive. 

Two, Harris can give a speech and she pulverized Trump in the debate (she is a lawyer, after all) but that's about all she could do. She did terrible in interviews, both friendly and unfriendly, when she deemed it necessary to give them. When asked a question about what she would done differently than Biden, she said she couldn't think of a thing. As we would say at Wheeler High School in the mid-70s: Duh.  Let's see, maybe not let so many illegal immigrants in?  Maybe care more about the price of eggs and gas? If you're telling people you are a new way forward, maybe don't tell them you wouldn't do anything different. I'm just spitballing here.

Three, I don't know what Harris saw in Tim Walz to make him her running mate.  He was a total doofus who made Dan Quayle look good.

Fourth, the Democratic Party's "lawfare" totally backfired because voters realized the indictments were not about bringing a rouge President to justice; it was about trying to injure Trump politically.  Its main point was to put Trump on trial and to get him convicted as a felon, even if the "felony" was novel meaning nobody had ever been tried under it as a felony before.  All of it had the opposite effect, making Trump even more popular. 

Our Fourth Estate is supposed to be a neutral observer and fair arbitrator, calling balls and strikes.  They didn't do any of that.

I have been saying for years (the first time was in 2021) that there was something off about Biden. If I, as a lowly blogger, could see it, you know the White House press corps saw it. They didn't say anything because Biden was on their team. 

When he crashed and burned after the first debate, Democrats had to push him aside if they wanted a chance to win. Because Democrats fiddle-farted (sorry for the technical terminology) around, they were left with no choice except to nominate Vice President Harris, who, let's face it, never made a good impression.

She gave it the old college try, but it wasn't enough.

Now our betters in the media are stuck in this rut saying they can't understand why the majority of American voters went back to Orange Benito except to say the Trump voters are dumb, stupid, racist, ignorant, poopy-heads that don't deserve to be blessed by our greatness at a Thanksgiving meal.

I am part of the generation that used late-night television hosts
as a gauge to the zeitgeist of the time.  Can you imagine Johnny Carson bawling about George McGovern losing the '72 election to Richard Nixon?  Joey Bishop having the sniffles that Hubert Humphrey lost? No, but Jimmy Kimmel and Colbert acted like it was the day after Pearl Harbor. 

Clearly, they don't care that there are people out there, a majority, who weren't enamored with The Democrats this time.  It happens. 

Social Media was its usual hit-and-miss. You had those posting memes that the LORD had made Trump President again. You had those posting long posts pronouncing SHAME on those who had the audacity to vote for Trump.

Look, I have voted in every Presidential election since 1980. That's eleven elections. The candidate I voted for won six of eleven times.  I believed in my candidates and thought they should have won (still do). But guess what?  George H.W. Bush didn't win re-election. Bob Dole didn't win either.  Sometimes, your candidate fails to win for a variety of reasons that are out of your control.

Despite what some say, there'll be a mid-term election in 2026 and another Presidential election in 2028. Trump will be term-limited from running for re-election.

Better luck next time, Dems.

 

 

This Week's Picks Week Eleven

 

 

You might have missed it with all of the election hoop-de-do, but the NCAA has released the seeding of the 12-team playoff on Tuesday.  

From #1 to #12 is as follows.

#1 Duckies
#2 Jawja
#3 Hercaines
#4 Mormons
#5 Ahia State
#6 Texsass
#7 The Lions Of Nittany
#8 Indiana Wants Me, Lawd I Can't Go Back There
#9 Tennysee
#10 Our Lady
#11 Bamy
#12 The Blue Turf People From Idaho

Of course, this is subject to change based on the school's record.  The first four seeds will get a bye.

Today, everyone here at Picks Central remembers Ben Herbstreit, Kirk Herbstreit's Golden Retriever, who passed away on Thursday. He was good boy.

 

 

This Week's Picks!

Jawja vs Ole Mess:  In the first seeding of the 12 seed playoff, Georgia is the #2 seed even though they are the #3 team in the country.  Georgia had a tough time with Florida last week. Carson Beck threw 400 interceptions. <Editor's Note: It was three> But a win is a win.  Ole Miss messed up on Arkansas something awful. Ole Miss would love to beat Georgia, but Georgia seems to play better against good teams.  It will be close, but UGA wins. 

Bumbles vs Myamee:  I had high hopes for the Bees, but the team is a Wreck. Miami is an excellent team and their quarterback, Cam Ward, could win The Heisman Trophy this year.  Miami wins.

Bamy vs Ellesyou:  Bama is still listed as a playoff team even though they don't seem like a playoff team.  LSU wants to be a playoff team, and one way to do this is to beat Alabama. Good luck. Bama wins.

Whoosers vs Meechigan:  This year's Cinderella (I know it is not basketball, but stick with me) is Indiana.  The Hoosiers haven't lost a game, which is really unusual.  On the other hand, Michigan is having a transition season under a new head coach.  Indiana wants to win this game. They will.  Indiana wins. 

My Beloved Owls vs UTEP:  I watched the Kennesaw State-Western Kentucky game for a few minutes last week. It was just long enough to see Western Kentucky score.  This week, the Owls travel out to the west Texas town of El Paso to play the University of Texas at El Paso Fighting Marty Robbins.  Just a joke.  It is the UTEP Miners.  Famous alumni of UTEP included F. Murray Abraham and Sam Donaldson.  UTEP is 1-8 for the season.  Owls win.

This Week's Picks Week Ten

 

Can you believe we are entering week ten of the college football season?

Can you believe Indiana is ranked higher than Alabama, and it is not in basketball?

Can you believe how well Vanderbilt is playing?

Can you believe how poorly Florida State is playing?

Can you believe how well Nick Saban is doing on College Gameday?

Can you believe Texas A&M?

 

This Week's Picks

 

Jawja vs. Florider: This was always a big game. However, it hasn't been very competitive in the past few years because Florida has become a big dope.  There's no Coach Steve or Timmy Tebow anymore. Florida would love to beat Georgia, but I don't think they will. Georgia wins.

Ahia State vs Lions of Nittany:  Another big rivalry game. Penn State is having a whiteout, which means everybody wears white and this will fuel your team to victory.  I have never seen this work.  Ohio State wins.

 

Duckies vs Meechigan:  Oregon is the latest number one and they have stayed number one for a whole two weeks. They are a quick, fast team. They are a well-coached team.  Michigan has a new coach, and they have been up and down.  Oregon is stronger than Michigan.  Oregon wins.

 

Kenyucky vs Tennysee:  Tennessee beat Alabama a few weeks ago, which was a big deal.  They are better than Kentucky, which lost to Auburn.  You do the math.  Tennessee wins.

My Beloved Owls vs Western Kentucky, where my parents were born:  Last week, Kennesaw State won their first FBS game, and the angels sang.  Western Kentucky is in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Famous alumni include the guy who played Roy Biggins on "Wings" and John Prine's grandmother.  They are called "The Hilltoppers," and their mascot is a towel or a blob that looks like a Ronald McDonald reject. Kennesaw State wins.

 

 

Whoppergate

 

I have lived in Cobb County for most of my life. It is a nice place to live.  

However, with growth, came the complications of urban life.

Traffic, crime, crowded schools, and Burger King getting your order wrong. Those are all examples of the challenging environment we now experience in Cobb County.

I know I sound old, but in the good old days, you could go to Burger King and have it your way.

Hold the pickles.

Hold the lettuce.

Special orders don't upset us.

Back then, Burger King loved you and your crazy preferences when it came to hamburgers, which were always flame broiled.

If you wanted hamburgers the way THE MAN wanted them, you went to McDonald's.  And the ice cream machine wasn't working back then, either.

It is not that way anymore.  Today, a man can't even trust that Burger King will get his order right.

The Marietta Daily Journal reports that in March 2023, Cobb County Sheriff deputies raced down Veterans Memorial Parkway in Mableton (which could have been a city then; I don't know; I can't keep up with every place in this county) with "sirens blaring."

The reason:  Burger King did not get Craig Owens's order right.  Mr. Owens said, "I wanted to order her (Mrs. Owens) a Whopper, with no mayo, cut in half."

It has been my experience that most of my orders are not close to what I ordered, but they are close enough for jazz. I like a Whopper without lettuce and tomato. But if I get a Whopper with lettuce and tomato, I remove it and eat the burger. But then again, I'm a loser.

I don't know what they got from Burger King. It probably had mayo and wasn't cut in half. He probably should have ordered it with mayo and ordered it not to be cut. Then, they would have gotten a Whopper with no mayo cut in half.

There is an important fact I haven't mentioned: Craig Owens is the Sheriff of Cobb County.

I grew up watching "Adam-12," which always started with, "One Adam-12, One Adam 12. See the man with the wrong order."

The Marietta Daily Journal reports the deputies originally went to the wrong Burger King. I hope they did it with sirens blaring because that would be so Cobb County.

When the deputies found the right Burger King, Sheriff Owens was there. He told the deputies, "the order he placed for his wife was not what he received. Owens said he informed the assistant manager of the burger blunder, who claimed to have corrected the mistake."

But, according to the Sheriff, it wasn't corrected. He said the assistant manager was a “straight up a- -”* and didn't make things right.

The Sheriff said, "All I need is the owner name, or whoever owns this d- - - facility, or the manager.  I want a name so I can call and complain. That’s all I need. I don’t need no d- - - money back no more, I just need to find out who own this  place so I can do an official complaint to complain about the service.  And maybe some onion rings."**

In case you haven't noticed, this is an election season, and the Sheriff is running for reelection. His opponent found body-cam footage of this incident and posted it on social media. It has hit the news media because, let's face it, I never saw Kojak bust somebody for too much mustard on his hamburger. 

Sheriff Owens says, "The type of call referenced in the video is a business dispute call.  This is a call that ANY citizen can make, and law enforcement will  respond. At no point did I indicate my position, nor did I ask the  responders to do anything that they would not, had not, or have not done for anyone else who makes a business dispute call. I regret that this call, which is made regularly by citizens, is being politicized in an  attempt to win vote.”

What is our lesson from this event?

One, when the Sheriff wants it his way, he wants it his way.

Two, any citizen can make a business dispute call. I didn't know I could do that, particularly with a hamburger.

Third, using your employees who are supposed to be doing something like, oh I don't know, fighting crime, instead of trying to make sure Burger King does it your way is not something to regret. No, it is the politicization of it, because that's wrong. 

Fourth, McDonald's had better get ready because if the ice cream machine isn't fixed, things are about to go down.

 

 

 

* This was taken directly from the Marietta Daily Journal's article about Whoppergate. This ain't Netflix.

** I just added the part about the onion rings.

This Week's Picks Week Eight

 

 

I heard from his brother-in-law that action novelist Allen Gregory went to Maine on vacation.

I don't know if Gregory was scouting new locations for a new book. Prominent time writers do this. Unfortunately, the budget of This Week's Picks does not allow for much travel unless you count picking up breakfast on Friday mornings at the local Chick-fil-A.  

Every Friday morning, I go to Chick-fil-A with Mrs. Picks to get a Hash Brown Scramble Bowl. It consists of cheese, "hash browns" (what Chick-fil-A calls Tater Tots), scrambled eggs, and cut-up chicken. We don't say it enough in West Cobb County, but it is divine. 

Mr. Gregory sent me a picture of himself standing in front of Stephen King's house in Portland, Maine, which impressed me because I didn't know King lived there.  (In Portland, Maine or the house.)

He said he saw King digging a hole in his (King's) backyard.

A couple of things.

1) In the world of writing, Stephen King is a legend because he writes books that people like to read. People actually buy his books, including the one about the car that came to life and would run people over. I didn't read the book because it sort of sounded like "My Mother, The Car." If you never saw that TV show, just be aware that it was scary.  In any event, he makes a lot of scratch, if you know what I mean.

2) You would think King would have people dig a hole for him.

3)  I was under the impression that King was a vampire and would not be able to go out into the sunlight.  I guess that theory was wrong. 

This Week's Picks!

Jawja vs Texsass: In the Kirby Smart era, I am trying to remember how many times I didn't pick Georgia in a regular season game when they were not playing Alabama. (Not many.) As we say down here, howevah, times have changed.  Despite the way they have played, Georgia is a very good team.  Carson Beck is a great quarterback, and he can throw darts.  The defense seems a little immature. Two penalties in the Mississippi State contest kept the Upright Bulldogs in the game.  I'm not quite sure how good Texas is. They beat Michigan, and I'll give them that. They look stronger than Georgia.  Texas wins. 

The Rambles vs Our Lady:  The Bees at the Benz to play Notre Dame.  Notre Dame is always overrated. Tech has The Manis Curse to deal with. I would like to see Tech win. They won't.  Notre Dame wins. 

Bamy  vs Tennaysay:  One thing you can say about Tennessee-they are low down. They are also snitches. Anyway, Alabama should've/could've/would've lost to The Chickens, which would have been the second highlight of the season.  Tennessee should've/could've/would've lost to Florida, but the Lord heard Rocky Tops prayers.  Bama is having growing pains under Coach Not Named Saban.  Tennessee wins.

Ellesyou vs Arky:  This ought to be a pretty good game nobody cares about. I'm going with LSU because they tripped me up last week. LSU wins. 

Jimmy Madison vs Jawja Southern.  Lost in the season is my son's Georgia Southern Eagles, who are playing some good ball. They beat Marshall last week, which is a big deal in Statesboro. James Madison is 5-1 while Georgia Southern (lyric from their school song: "Drunk, Drunk, Drunk keep screaming for more") is 4-2. Sorry, son.  James Madison wins. 

 

*This Week's Picks will not be published for the week of October 21-26. 

 

 

This Week's Picks Week Seven

 

 

In history, man has wondered: Is there a kind and loving God? This question was answered with a resounding yes last Saturday.

Vanderbilt beat Alabama.

Alabama fans took this loss with a grain of salt. Shucks, you can't win them all. Good for Vandy, long the doormat of the SEC.  Yeah, right.

Maybe there was one Bama fan like that. The other type is a regular caller/listener to The Paul Finebaum Show. There is one who calls himself "The Legend," (due to his modesty) and he is the chairman of the English Department at the University of Alabama. I say, I say, I say, that's just a joke, son. We don't know how The Legend earns his money, but he has a fantastic way with words.

He said, "Alabama doesn’t lose to Vandy.”  Well, not in the past forty years. 

The Legend continues, "Bill Curry didn’t lose to Vandy. Mike DuBose didn’t lose to Vandy. Mike Shula didn’t lose to Vandy, forty years. You (DeBoer) have been here 4 weeks and you already lost to Vandy. Strike friggin’  one dude, strike friggin’ one.”   I thought it would have been a combined strike one and two, but we've gone soft over the years.

He ended it with this analogy: "You know what this is equivalent to? This is equivalent to coming home  and finding your wife in bed with the neighbor. That is what this (loss) is equivalent to. You may stay with her for the kids’  sake, but you can never trust the woman again. The same thing is true  with Coach DeBoer."  Yeah, but your wife didn't play in the National Championship last year.

 

This Week's Picks!

Jawja vs Upright Walking On Two Legs Bulldogs:  Georgia managed to escape the upset bug that bit Tennessee (ha, ha) and Alabama (hahahahahahahaha) last week, while Mississippi State had a bye.  They've had a pretty tough year so far, and if there is something we've learned about the SEC this year, anything can happen.  But it won't, Georgia wins.

Rambles vs. Heels of Tar: Lost in all of the upset talk last week was Tech's defeat of Duke. The Bees are now 4-2. The Tar Heels are 3-3 and have lost the three previous games. You never know what you are going to get the Tar Heels, so I am climbing back onto the bandwagon.  Tech wins

 

Quacks vs Ahia State: This is the whoop-de-do big game of the week.  I think Ohio State is a better team. Even if Chip Kelly (or is it Brian) is the offensive coordinator, Ohio State wins. 

Ole Mess vs Ellesyou. Two excellent teams. I think Kiffin, as much I hate to say it, is a better coach than Brian Kelly (or is it Chip?).  Ole Miss wins. 

 

Texsass vs Okies. The Hank Hill Shoot Out on The Red River. Texas is number one for a reason. Texas wins.

 

Middle of Tennysay vs My Beloved Owls (Tuesday, October 15) Last Friday was another loss for MBO (My Beloved Owls for you keeping score at home.)  Kennesaw State is now receiving attention,but not the kind it wants. This week's SEC Shorts shows Kennesaw State in the FBS basement with Rice, FSU, and UMass. Well, you have to start somewhere.  This week, Kennesaw State travels to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the home of Middle Tennessee State University and The Slick Pig BBQ restaurant.  The good news for Kennesaw State is Middle Tennessee is playing Louisiana Tech on Thursday night and then has to play Kennesaw State on Tuesday.  They have also only won one game so far this year. So, I'm saying we have a chance.  Owls win.