Posted by Sam

First off, I want to apologize for not posting a Weekly Picks O’ the Week during the week of the conference championships, but I have a damned good reason.  My computer exploded.  Well, it didn’t exactly explode, but it did crash, which is something you wouldn’t know was so frustrating until it happens to you.  You just don’t realize how often you use your computer until it doesn’t work anymore.  In my case, I’m still not sure what happened, I wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary (like looking at Brazilian fart porn or downloading government secrets off of Wikileaks), I was just checking my email when all of the sudden my computer started making a loud spinning noise, it sounded like the cooling fan or hard drive was spinning a lot faster than it should have, so I did the most reasonable thing I could think of, I shut my computer down.  Nothing went wrong while it was shutting down, but when I tried to boot her (computers are girls) up again, she just would not start Windows.  Now, I am somewhat computer literate and know enough to fix most things on my own without much help.  So, I then did everything in my knowledge to make it work again to no avail and finally resorted to going to Dell’s Support Site.

On that site, it basically told me everything I had already tried except that if none of their troubleshooting tips worked, I would have to reinstall Windows.  Now, I have had to reinstall Windows on an older computer of mine, so this shouldn’t have been much of a problem, but for some reason when I purchased my computer, the geniuses at Dell didn’t include a copy of the Windows Installation Disk, or what would have been my copy of the disk.  So, I called Dell Tech Support and was connected to a guy named Ace (ha, yeah right) and I told him that I wanted my copy of the Windows Installation Disk that they should have given me in the first place.  He told me that it would cost me 60 bucks.  That’s when I reiterated that I already owned Windows, it was included with my computer purchase, and I just wanted the Installation Disk that they failed to give me and there was no way I was paying anything more than the shipping cost of that disk.  Ace told me again that it would be 60 bucks.  Sure, I could have forked over the money to make my computer work again, but I have principles that I live by and one of them is not paying for something I already own, so instead of paying for the disk I told Ace to go fuck himself and hung up.

Next, I decided to find a copy of the disk by myself, but couldn’t find a copy of the same version of Windows which I already owned a Product Key for, but I did find an older version and a Product Key for that version.  I then installed that, which resulted in two things.  First, I lost everything on my hard drive, my Block-C files, my resume, my Super Nintendo Modulator, and everything else, but I knew going in that that was going to happen so I had already accepted that fact.  Second, this older version of Windows failed to recognize any of the hardware on my computer, including and most importantly my Ethernet port, which meant I couldn’t just hook it up the internet and let it update and install everything on its own.  It was at this point that I realized that I was beyond my computer know-how, gave up, and finally took it to a guy to fix it for me.  This guy did a wonderful job, he was able to reinstall everything including my original version of Windows and now my computer runs one hundred times better.  I couldn’t be happier even though I still had to pay more than 60 bucks in the end to get it fixed.  On top of that, I found a random CD labeled “Backup” which I had apparently made in October (I have no recollection of making it) and got most of my original files back, including my Super Nintendo Modulator and I can now play Super Mario RPG again.  So, now you know why there was no Weekly Picks O’ the Week a couple weeks ago.

And with that, on to some foootbawl!

“Foootbawl!!!”

ACC Bowl Games

(Pick in Bold.  Lines from Sportsbook.com. Rankings based on BCS Standings)

Continue Reading “WEEKLY PICKS O’ THE WEEK – SPECIAL BOWL EDITION PART 1″ »

Posted by Sam

If you missed Part One of the Weekly Picks O’ the Week, then click here.  Now on to Part Two:

Other Games of Interest

#2 Auburn Tigers (+4.5) @ #11 Alabama Crimson Tide

“The Iron Bowl”

2:30 Friday

-I want to point out something really funny.  If Sakerlina beats Auburn in the SEC Championship, then in all likelihood the (self-proclaimed) “Almighty” SEC will not be playing for the National Championship this season.  It would snap a streak of four consecutive National Champions coming from the SEC.  In fact, that would also result in the SEC Champion being a 3 or 4 loss team (hopefully 4 loss), which means that their conference is about as “almighty” as a box of puppies dressed as kittens.  For once, Sakerlina can’t chant “SEC SEC SEC” because it won’t mean as much when their champion will have lost to Kentucky earlier in the season.  Yes, Sakerlina can claim they won the SEC, but when they will have tied their school record for conference wins and then won the division, it probably means that they didn’t play up to their competition, it means that their competition came down to their level.  And what happened to those vaunted SEC defenses?  This season in conference play, there have been 33 teams score 30-plus points, 14 teams score 40-plus points, 4 teams score 50-plus points, and one game where a team scored 60-plus points.  Either the SEC finally figured out what an offense is or they totally forgot how to play defense.  All I’m really trying to say is that the SEC isn’t the greatest thing known to football anymore, this season they are more or less are an average conference and no longer the king of mountain.  See, there was no reason to bash Sakerlina and the SEC like I did , but too late, I did.  However, I will admit that I do feel a little better.  Sakerlina Sucks!  And a little better.

“I’ll pull for Alabama if I get to meet those, I mean her.”

Continue Reading “WEEKLY PICKS O’ THE WEEK – WEEK 13 PART 2″ »

Posted by Sam

I’m generally a laid-back guy, I try not to let things bother me, whether it is Clemson losing a close game, standing in a long line for anything, or bumper-to-bumper traffic (but idiot drivers drive me crazy, no way around that).  Then why is Sakerlina’s success making me want to punch a hole in the wall?  I know they are Clemson’s rival and I was born into a Clemson family (my mom was pregnant with me while she was at the 1982 Orange Bowl where Clemson clinched the 1981 National Championship), therefore I was raised to dislike the Gamecocks, but it just isn’t my nature to be this angry about anything.  For example, my buddy (whose parents and sister went to Sakerlina and he went to GT, but he still pulls for both) called me this weekend and asked me if I was watching the “Carolina” game.  At the time, I was watching the North Carolina game, so I said yes.  He then asked if I saw some random stat the telecast just showed about Troy’s (if you didn’t know, that was who Sakerlina was currently playing) QB’s high school record (he apparently threw 91 TDs his senior season, which is pretty insane) and I stopped him there and said, “When you said Carolina, you should have said SC or the Cocks, they are not Carolina”.  He kind of let that bounce off of him, laughed about it and that was the end of the conversation.  However, I could still tell by the tone of his voice that my comment came off as being malicious (instead of my usual joking tone) and the worst part was that I didn’t even realize it until after I did it.  And that’s just not me, I don’t like being angry, I don’t like that I grimace every time that I see that Sakerlina beat a team like Troy, a team they are supposed to beat, I just don’t like it.

Am I anger because Sakerlina is (finally) having a great season?  Or is it because Clemson is not?  Either way, I don’t let things like that get to me, but every time I hear someone on TV praise the Cocks, I get pissed, change the channel, and then mutter some sort of curse about Sakerlina cheating or something.  It’s almost as if I care more about Sakerlina’s season than Clemson’s, which is the complete opposite way I should be thinking, I should be more concerned with Clemson’s offensive problems than Sakerlina’s SEC (L)East Division win.  Remember a couple weeks ago when I told you guys about me being able to laugh off a Clemson loss and being able to go on with my life?  Then why can’t I do the same thing when Sakerlina wins, that makes no sense to me.  Oh well, I guess it was bound to happen that Sakerlina had a good season at some point, but considering it has never happened in my lifetime, I just assumed it never would and maybe that’s what has got me so worked up.  I wish all of this pent up anger and frustration would go away and the only way I can think of that will make that happen is with a Clemson win this weekend.  If not, then basketball, baseball, and golf seasons, here I come!

And with that, on to some foootbawl!

“Foootbawl!!!”

Continue Reading “WEEKLY PICKS O’ THE WEEK – WEEK 13 PART 1″ »

Posted by Sam

Now, I want to start off by taking a long, deep depressing sigh.  Ssssiiiggghhh….  Nope, I still don’t feel any better about what happened this past weekend.  First off, Clemson loses the only way that Clemson knows how, heart-wrenchingly.  Then, the Cocks go and blow out Florida to win the SEC East, that can’t be more depressing.  Then both of my fantasy football teams lost, which always dampers a guy’s Sunday.  And finally, last week’s picks were just plain terrible, I ended up 3-6, and there is no one to blame but myself….and Duke, UNC, GT, FSU, Florida, and Miss St.  I think this weekend can be summed up nicely by this scene from Ghostbusters:

Venkman:  …this city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.

Mayor:  What do you mean, “biblical”?

Ray:  What we mean is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath-of-God type stuff!  Fire and brimstone coming down from the sky!  Rivers and seas boiling!

Egon:  Forty years of darkness!  Earthquakes, volcanoes…

Winston:  The dead rising from the grave!

Venkman:  Human sacrifice!  Dogs and cats living together!  Mass hysteria!

That’s how I felt about last weekend, everything got turned upside-down and that can only mean the Apocalypse is near.  Clemson sucking, Sakerlina winning, my fantasy teams losing (eff you Dwayne Bowe), my picks blowing, what in the hell happened?  I would have been OK if one or two of those things happened last weekend, that’s bearable.  But all four at the same time can kill a man’s soul (ha, as if we dudes had one to begin with).  Let’s hope all of this shitty luck is just getting itself out of the way and culminating into something awesome for me in the future, maybe like a win against Sakerlina, or a fantasy football championship, or maybe even getting a pony for Christmas.

And with that, on to some foootbawl!

“I guess this is related to Foootbawl!!!”

ACC Games

(Pick in Bold.  Lines from Sportsbook.com. Rankings based on BCS Standings)

Continue Reading “WEEKLY PICKS O’ THE WEEK – WEEK 12″ »

Posted by Sam

For the second time in three weeks, I changed two of my picks at the last second and for the second time in three weeks, both of those changes were losses for me.  A buddy of mine convinced me that Miami would cover and I listened even though I thought Maryland’s constantly blitzing defense would have gotten to the Hurricane’s back-up QB, which they did.  And I also thought that Duke would revert to being Duke, but for some reason, they decided to play their little white hearts out this weekend.  I still ended up 6-4 last week, which isn’t bad, but 8-2 sounds so much better.

Also, don’t forget, it’s (Da/Jim) Bo Bowl Week!!!  And I can only assume that ABC picked up this game for their primetime spot because they caught wind of the awesome nickname we came up with for this game during our pre-season previews.  But the more likely reason is that there are very few good games this weekend.  Before the BCS Rankings came out Sunday night, Mississippi State v. Alabama was the only Top 25 matchup this weekend, but after the rankings came out, there are now three Top 25 matchups, but that doesn’t necessarily make those games any better.  One of matchups is a certain game that will determine who plays in a certain conference championship (which, for some reason, isn’t even CBS’s SEC game of the week), but other than those three games, we are looking at a bunch of crappy football this weekend.  Oh and how hard are you guys going to laugh if Sakerlina loses this weekend and Clemson (somehow) wins the Atlantic Division?  I might actually pass out from the hilarity.

And with that, on to some foootbawl!

“Foootbawl!!!”

ACC Games

(Pick in Bold.  Lines from Sportsbook.com. Rankings based on BCS Standings)

Continue Reading “WEEKLY PICKS OF THE WEEK – WEEK 11″ »