This Week's Picks Week 9

Sorry for missing last week.  I was on a trip to the North Georgia Mountains  with my wife, son, his wife, his in-laws (What's the difference between in-laws and outlaws? Outlaws are wanted!) in-laws of the in-laws and a new boyfriend of an in-law.  While we were there, Mrs. Picks wanted to see her retired boss who is building a house in the area.

You know you are in North Georgia when the directions state "Turn right on to Booger Hollow Road".

 

 

We did and we drove for a couple of miles before I realized that we had left the boondocks and entered another world of boondockery.  I told my wife:  "If we hear any banjos, I'm turning the car around."

Well, we found the house and it possibly has one of the prettiest views in all of North Georgia.  And this is without the leafs changing.

This Week's Picks!

 

 

Jawja vs Florider:  The Annual World's Largest Drunken Redneck Fest featuring Georgia versus Florida. Florida  can beat Georgia. Maybe. Possibly. Perhaps.  But they won't. Georgia has the best defensive lineman in College Football, Jordan Davis, who is also the best defensive line.  Plus, Georgia has a bye last week so they usually win this match when they have a bye week before.  Dawgs win 

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Bees vs Gobbles. Ah, another Tech versus Tech game and all I have to do is say "Tech wins" and I'm right. The Bumbles win every other week.  They lost last week. Sorry Georgia Tech fans, this is business.  The Yellow Jackets win

 

 

Ahia State vs The Lions Of Nittany. Can you believe Penn State lost to Illinois last week? They will lose again this week.  Buckeyes win.

 

 

Whatever That This Is On Their Helmets  vs Sparty.   Michigan has won seven games and Michigan State has won seven games. Michigan is ranked sixth and Michigan State is ranked eighth.  It is going to be an interesting game.  I tend to think Michigan is better even though I think Harrbaugh is vastly overrated as a coach.  Michigan wins. But it is close.

Ole Mess vs WarTigers;  When we last saw Ole Miss, people were throwing golf balls and mustard bottles at Lame  Lane Kiffin. Auburn is having an Auburn type of year. They really look good and then they really look bad.  Ole Miss is doing a little better this year.  Ole Miss wins.

 

My Beloved Owls vs Running Baptist Bulldogs.  If you haven't been paying attention, MBO are currently ranked in the Top Ten in the FCS, which is nothing to sneeze at, gesundheit. This week, they are playing Gardner-Webb, where my niece goes and still hasn't bought her favorite uncle a Running Bulldogs t-shirt.   Owls win.

This Week's Picks

 

 

The BIG NEWS, if you haven't heard, is GEORGIA IS NUMBER ONE.

That's right. The NUMBER ONE GEORGIA BULLDOGS ARE NUMBER ONE.

After THE NUMBER ONE BULLDOGS crushed, humiliated, and basically made lowered the self-esteem of the Auburn Tigerseagles, the whole state of Georgia watched the Alabama-Texas A&M game.  

God bless Texas A&M.

Now, it is not over-not by a long shot. There's plenty of football left to be played. There's plenty of Skippy in the peanut butter jar. There's plenty of Fruit Loops in the bowl. There's plenty of Slurpee in the cup.  There's plenty of dog food in the bag. 

In other words, it ain't over.  I can think of two seasons, off the top of my head, in which Alabama didn't even win their division, much less their conference, and was crowned the FBS champion at the end of the season. Row Tad.

NUMBER ONE GEORGIA has reasons to be optimistic. One, their defense is just sick.  Two, their offense is very, very efficient.

The rest of the season ought to be something to watch.

 

 

This Week's Picks.

 

Jawja vs Kenyucky:  NUMBER ONE GEORGIA is facing Kentucky. It is a scary game for NUMBER ONE GEORGIA because Kentucky can beat NUMBER ONE GEORGIA just like the Aggies beat the Tide.  The real question is: will they?  The real answer:  No.    UGA wins

 

 

 

 

 

Okie State vs Texsass:  Oklahoma State is sort of like the Auburn of Oklahoma. A lot of fine, smart people are alumni, but they just can't have nice things.  Texas should have won last week. They will this week.  Texas wins.

 

 

WarTigers vs Piggies: Another bounce-back game.  Auburn thought they were back.  Arkansas thought the Georgia game was a one-off.  It turns out they were both wrong.  I like the Pig coach and quarterback better than the Auburn coach and quarterback.  Arkansas wins

 

 

Ole Mess vs Big Urange: Ole Miss got lucky last week and Tennessee played South Carolina. I'm not sold on the Ole Miss quarterback or Lane Kiffin.  Tennessee can beat up on teams lesser teams.  I think think this is a toss-up.  But, if I had to pick one, I'd pick Tennesse because I haven't picked them since I don't know when.  Tennessee wins.

 

 

Iowewah  vs Purdoo:.Well, lookie who is number two:  The Iowa Hawkeyes.  Of all teams in The Big Ten, I never thought it would be Iowa getting all of the attention.  They are playing Purdue this week.  Purdue is not doing too bad this year. But I don't see them beating Iowa.  Iowa wins.

 

 

My Beloved Owls vs North Carolina A&T :  North Carolina A&T "deliver(s) a high-quality, intellectually stimulating education focused on helping every student gain access to the hands-on opportunities, core knowledge and global perspective that will help them make lasting change in their lives and the lives of people in their workplaces, communities and world."  It also features a marketing department that can write some of the world's longest sentences.   They have a 3-2 record.   Owls win.

Special announcement:  No Picks for 10/23/21. We'll be back 10/30/21

This Week's Picks Week

 

 

 I remember when Urban Meyer was the head coach at The University of Utah.  He did well there. From there, he went to the University of Florida, where he met Tim Tebow and won a championship.  He quit Florida out of the blue. Something about his heart.  He did some color on ESPN.  Soon he was back at his Alma Mater, THE Ohio State University.  He won a championship there.  He quit again.

The Jacksonville Jaguars came calling one day. You can't say no to the NFL, so Meyer became the head coach of the worst team in the league. 

You know where this is going. Last week, after another loss, Meyer was videoed "grinding" against a young woman (who news reports say "did not appear to be his wife.")   It looked like he was enjoying himself. I'm venturing a guess that alcohol may have been involved.

This incident has put Urban in a bind. He gave an "apology"  (or "pollogy," as he pronounced it) to save his job. Unfortunately, it is not clear if it will work.

Honestly, I do feel bad for Urban. He's only 57, which means he still has some fire in the tank left.  Add to that he's never been associated with hanky panky before, which makes you want to cut him some slack.

But I can't let him off the hook so easily.  He's a grown man, and he should know that booze, young women, cell phones with cameras and a losing record aren't a good combination.

He should remember what Jerry Glanville said The NFL stood for:  "Not For  Long".

 

This Week's Picks.

 

 

Jawja vs The WarTigers:   Fun football fact that you will hear a million times before Saturday's game.  Georgia vs Auburn is the oldest Deep South football rivalry. You can imagine the millions of stimulating conversations this game has produced.  Georgia killed Arkansas.  Auburn beat LSU.  It would warm the hearts of the people on the Plains to beat Georgia. But as they say down there, they just can't have nice things.   Dawgs win,

 

Bumbles vs Dookie   I saw the meme (see below) about the "Georgia Football Cycle"  Well, here is the Georgia Tech Football Cycle:   Talk about how hard it is to recruit good players-------Win a game nobody thought you could win--------Lost a game by thirty one points---------Complain how Georgia is overrated. (You are here) .  I thought Tech had turned the corner when the beat North Carolina. Turns out they haven't.   They play Duke this week   Duke wins.

 

 

Okie vs Tex-sas  Do you remember when this game was really a big deal?  It is not anymore. Oklahoma is having one of its big-time years while Texas is doing okay.  I don't think that's good enough  OK is okay.   Sooners win.

 

 

Lions of Nittany vs I Owe Ya    This will be another one of those "big" games that involve Iowa that turns out to be a dud.  Penn State wins

 

 

 Piggies vs Ole Mess  This is the game of the losers from last week.  Arkansas could not get anything going. Ole Miss looked like they didn't know where they were. I'm going with Arkansas because Sam Pittman looks like just about everybody I know.  Pigs win.

 

My Beloved Owls vs Hampton : Hey , I picked against the Owls last week and they won!  No need to thank me.  One of my readers reminded me that I've met the Kennesaw Athletic Director and it would take one punch from this man to put me into traction.    Owls win.

This Week's Picks

 

Over the years I have included Georgia Southern games in This Week's Picks.  Mrs. Picks and I sent money there to edumacate our son, Boy Picks. It was big fun keeping up with the Drinking Eagles because they usually had some pretty good FCS  teams.

Well, their dreams came true and Georgia Southern moved up to FBS.  They had a really bad couple of season a few years back and they promoted Chad Lunsford to become head coach.  He seemed like he really related to the players and they played hard for him.

Somehow, somewhere along the way, though, the wheels came off the Georgia Southern bus.

Actually, it happened on a school bus.

 A lot of schools do a "walk" into the stadium before the game ( "The Dawg Walk", "Gator Walk", etc.).   Georgia Southern does something a little bit different. They bring the players to the stadium in a yellow school bus.  It is kind of cute and harkens back the early Erk days.

Last week, the school bus are rolling along on the stadium. One of the players was on the roof of the bus. A fan just happened to have a can beer (imagine that!) and lobbed it to the player. The player catches it and begins to chug-a-lug while riding to the stadium.

After the game, which they lost, Lunsford was fired. The player was suspended indefinitely 

Georgia Southern has the Statesboro blues.

This Week's Picks!

 

Jawja vs Arky:  At the beginning of the season, I had this penciled in a win, but now I'm nervous that it may be a trap (game)!Any long time Georgia fan worth his salt worries about every game and is convinced that doom is just around the corner.  Arkansas is doing well this season and would love to hurt Georgia and whatever chances they have for the National Championship.  Even though the Pigs are better, Georgia's defense is just sick.   Dawgs win.

 

 

The Pitts vs Bees:  Just a few weeks ago, it looked like The Bees would be The Bumbles all year. They killed My Beloved Owls, put a scare into Clemson, and beat a very good North Carolina team. I hate to do this to you, Bees:  Tech wins.

 

 

Ole Mess vs Bamy:  Another trap game.  I remember there was a couple of years which the only Alabama loss was to Ole Miss (see below). While Ole Miss is better, they are just not good enough to beat Alabama. The Tide continues to roll.   Alabama wins

 

 

Indiana Wants Me-Lord I Can't Go Back There vs  The Lions of Nittany.  Indiana has a good team this year. Penn State just has a better team.  Penn State wins

 

 

Ellessyou vs The WarTigers:  I usually try to hedge my bets with this game by saying "The Tigers win".  I think I'm being clever.  LSU hung on to beat The Upright Bulldogs last week and seem to playing with a little bit of swag.  Auburn somehow hung on to beat a school that didn't have a team until the second decade of this century.  I think Beaudroux really likes his chance against Auburn. I agree with him.  LSU wins

My Beloved Owls vs  The Illegal Game Birds Of Alabama:  A couple of years ago, Kennesaw State and Jacksonville State played against each other and it was one of the best games I've ever seen.  Jacksonville State beat Florida State a couple of weeks ago, but lost last week again University of Tennessee-Martin & Lewis. This is the other game I've worried about. Sorry, Owls, you're still my boys, but this is business.   Jacksonville State wins.

Don't Worry- We Have Buc-ee's

People can't help from feeling a little depressed, if you know what I mean.

We have this virus, for which we have a vaccine, that is still hanging around and killing people who haven't taken the vaccine.  And we still can't convince enough people to get vaccinated, probably because all the scientific information on earth is no match for a rapper's story about her cousin's friend and his enlarged gonads.

(Unrelated, my friend, the great Bill Wade, was once on an intramural football team called The Nads and their team cheer was Go! Nads!)

The economy is still in the doldrums.  There are more jobs than people to fill them but nobody wants to work. Have you tried to get supper at Chick-fil-A?  The lines are so long you might want to use a PTO day.

While there are no shortages, so far, again, for toilet paper, you cannot find a product I call "Hiney Wipes". Something about the supply chain. 

How can we forget our inspirational leadership from Washington?  President Biden appears every two weeks to yell at us to get off his lawn.  Our former President is issuing statements basically calling everybody a loser and that HE actually won the election and everybody knows it. 

Then the thrill of all thrills, Trump is making noises that he will run again in 2024. Happy, happy, joy, joy.  Instead of "Making America Great Again", his slogan will be "Even Closer To 80 Years Old Than The Last Time".

On top of that, the music the kids listen these days still sucks.

But do not let your heart grow weary.  There is something out there, on our interstate highways, that will bring you joy.  Yes, my friends, JOY!  (As preachers will say, that is a good place for an "amen".)

Buc-ee's.

As the kids say, "Wait, what?"  Buc-ee's.  

Buc-ee's is "a chain of travel centers known for clean bathrooms and many fueling positions."  That's from their website. Actually, Buc-ee's is a big old honkin' convenience store with about twelve billion gas pumps, give or take a billion.

Buc-ee's started in Texas by two guys, one of whom is nicknamed "Buck", hence the name.   It grew in Texas because they like things bigger in Texas, including convenience stores.  Then they expanded to Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, praise the Lord. 

They are building stores in Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and South Carolina.  Hopefully, there will be a Buc-ee's in every state, including Vermont, which doesn't have an interstate.

Mrs. Manis and I stopped at the Buc-ee's in Calhoun, Georgia, while going to a weekend getaway to Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The first thing you see is a parking lot full of cars.  Then you see the gas pumps.  Our Buc-ee's did not have a billion gas bumps, only 120 gas pumps.  

The store is 53,000 square feet.  It is filled with people like it was Black Friday. You also notice they have plenty of employees, and they all seem to be working, and they all seem to be nice.   One gave us directions to someplace essential: the bathrooms.

The bathrooms at Buc-ee's are spotless.  I don't know who is in charge of the bathrooms at Buc-ee's corporate, but he should win a Nobel Prize.  You could, if you had to, eat in the bathrooms. (Which I saw a guy do at The Chelsea Market in New York City.  He was eating a sandwich.)

They sell all of the usual convenience glob at Buc-ee's:  drinks, mints, etc.  But they also sell barbeque beef brisket sandwiches.  I know barbecue beef is the devil's BBQ but the Lord wouldn't mind you having a sandwich or two.

My Facebook friend, "Tater" (yes, that's his name), went his local Buc-ee's and posted this the other day. "Got me some sliced BBQ brisket sammiches for lunch and dinner."  He also bought some snacks, like "Beaver Nuggets" which I can't explain what they are but I will tell you they are glorious.  

Along with the "sammiches" and "Beaver Nuggets", you can buy their homemade beef jerky. They have 15 types of beef jerky. When I was coming along, there was only one flavor of beef jerky: beef.

The little lady and I bought some Beaver Nuggets, Buc-ee's BBQ crunchy snack that's bad for your health but tastes good, some bottled water, and a t-shirt with this little fella on it. 

 

It was a pleasant, enjoyable experience.  When was the last time you had that on an interstate?

If anyone asks what makes America better than say China, just tell them we have Buc-ee's and they don't.

This Week's Picks

 

 Here's my impression so far on the College Football season.

1) I think Alabama should be number one and Georgia should be number two.  It will probably play out that way until the SEC Championship.  Unless......

2)  Florida  beats Georgia in the World's Largest Orgy Cocktail Party.

3)  I'm sure someone from the Northeast will talk about how great Notre Dame is.

4)  Ole Miss will play better this year but will still get beat in The Egg Bowl.  That's right- it is not even October and I've made a pick for The Egg Bowl.

5) I'm tired of the AFLAC commercials with Nick Saban and Deion Sanders.  Deion knows how to play to the camera. Nick?  Well, let's say I'd rather listen to the duck.

 

6) Speaking of insurance, I still feel sorry for the Liberty Mutual guy who has to make sales calls with an Emu.

7) Whatever happened to those two guys that used to go to Sonic together?  I hope everything is all right.

 

This Week's Picks!

 

Jawja vs Commode Doors:  UGA travels up to Music City to get some Nashville Hot Chick-Chick and play Vanderbilt. The Dawgs defense is a sight to behold, kind of like Dolly Parton. Vandy? Well, they are gotta' get drunk and they sure do dread it.  UGA wins.

 

Jackets of Yellow vs Heels of Tar:  The good news from the Bumbles game against Clemson is that they fought Clemson really hard and was in the game until the end. In fact, My Beloved Owls scored more points against Tech than Clemson did.   Of course, they still lost the game, but it was a good moral victory if you are into that sort of thing.  UNC is a good team this year.  Tar Heels win.

 

Vols vs Reptiles:  If wishes and buts were candy and nuts everyday would be Christmas and Florida would have beaten Alabama. I liked the way they held themselves steady and kept working at until they were back in the ballgame.  Oh well, that's part of that Saban luck.  Tennessee really needs to beat somebody good to be back in the high life again.  It won't be this Saturday.  Gators win

 

 Ags vs Pigs.  Well, sooie! Look who is back in the conversation!  It is Arkansas who has hit a rough patch the past couple of years.  Texas A&M is having one of their typical years.  I think Aggies are better than the Piggies, but it is good to have have Arky back in town.   Aggies win,

 

Ellesyou vs The Other Bulldogs:  Nobody ever mentions it, but once LSU won the the College Football Championship, the world get hit with a pandemic. Maybe you have heard about it.  Anyway, last year, LSU didn't do so well and Coach Orgeron is in "the hot seat", which is College Football talk for "about to get fired.   The Other Bulldogs are coached by Mike Leach who may/may not be clinically insane.  However, he's got the Upright Bulldogs playing well, even if they got jobbed last week.  Mississippi State wins.

 

 

On That Day

 

On that day, I was in my quad cubicle (a cubicle that would hold four desks) at the insurance company.

There were rumblings that the head honchos were going to close the office in Atlanta (actually Smyrna) and move it to Utica, New York.  Something about cost-efficiency.

Someone stood up in their cubicle, which was next to mine and said, "Did you hear an airplane crashed into World Trade Center?"

I hadn't heard, but I thought it had to be an accident. I had seen a story on "Unsolved Mysteries" about a plane flying into The Empire State Building.  I thought there must have been some bad weather or something.

Wrong.

It was a terrorist attack.  The reason was unclear. It could have been about the wealth of The United States, but later we learn the attackers came from well-to-do backgrounds.

  
I've even read they had a beef about sky scrappers.   I've never had a beef with any building in my life.

I always thought it has something to do with being absolute nutjobs intent on making people fear them.  They were anti-Semitic and anti-anything that didn't fit the square pegs of their brains.

It was an absolute nightmare.  It was worse than Pearl Harbor.

On that day, though, we were united. United in our anger. United in our grief.  

It took a while, but we slipped back into a bad old habit.  Our habit of blaming anybody except the person (or persons) that committed the crime.  It was Bush's fault. He wanted to start a war because he had "daddy issues."  It was Cheney's fault-Texas oil man, you know.
The planes couldn't cause the towers to fall.  No, George W. Bush set up a controlled demolition.

On that day, Senators and Congressmen from both parties gathered outside The Capitol and sang "God Bless America".  I thought it was corny then.   I don't anymore.

On that day, we admired the people that ran towards The Towers: the policemen and the firemen.  

On that day, we had remarkable stories of heroism. We heard the last words a husband or a wife would say to their life's love. We heard about children losing fathers and mothers.  We heard about parents losing their adult children. We heard about people losing friends.

I didn't know anyone that lost their life on that day.   A co-worker had a niece that worked at one of The Towers.  I think she got fine. One of the stories that is buried in the horror is how many people DIDN'T die on that day. The people on the floors below the impact zones generally got out.  In the 1993 bombing, it took almost 12 hours to totally evacuate the buildings. 

On that day, although we took a jolt, I thought things would get better.

I'm not sure it has.

We are too cynical with each other. We judge either other by their particular political stand at the moment. As a result, we are caustic, hypercritical, hypocritical, and downright mean in a lot of cases.

We need to pause. We need to catch our breath. We need to remember how we felt on that day.