Week 5 Upset Specials

Big hits last week folks, with Kansas State (+425) and Oregon State (+250), I turned my $3,000 bet into $5,750 in profits.($6,750 minus the $1,000 lost on Kansas).  Now up $3,050 for the season.

Had a huge party for the Cowboys game to celebrate last week, we took care of 'dem Buccaneers.  But I digress.

I'm strong on this week's picks, plus I got a huge underdog teaser.


Season +$3,050, 3-6


Pick #1
Arkansas (+420, +13) at Texas A&M
Texas A&M still is finding identity, can't look into much what happened in the rolling of SMU or SC State.  Arkansas brings a very wounded mentality to College Station and has a history of beating these guys up here at the new Texas Stadium.  Juicy money line is too good to pass up, Arkansas salvages a win here.

Pick #2
Rice (+260, +7.5) at Houston
Houston may be very, very bad.  Rice is battle tested and had some success in this rivalry.  I would have put it at a pick'em but bettors don't seem to appreciate the Owls.

Pick #3
Wisconsin (+395, +11.5) at Nebraska
Both these teams have stumbled out of the gate, particularly in west coast road games.  Another game I see even, but I get 11.5 points and a juicy money line?  Sign me up please, Go Sconnie!

Pick #4 (special edition for only $100)
Ole Miss (+4100, +30) at Alabama
Okay, I know, small chance of happening.  But maybe Alabama relaxes a little bit after some of their tough games, maybe Ole Miss isn't that bad with just the big loss to Texas in a game they were sloppy with the ball.  Just saying it could happen.  Alabama has looked a little underwhelming in some of their non-marquee matchups, oil men like me use venture capital for big hits, here we go!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 9/23/2012

A great sports weekend, we're going to the college pigskin and looking for a player who came up huge in a big game.  E.J. Manuel for Florida State brought his team back (trailing Clemson 28-14 early in the 3rd quarter) with nearly a perfect performance, hitting 27/35 passing (77%) with 2 TD and 0 INT, and also ran for 102 yards on 12 carries for 8.5 YPC.  All in a crucial ACC matchup of Top 10 teams. Heisman is in play here, folks, as is a BCS Championship game berth.  Congratulations E.J., you are the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Week 4 Upset specials

I missed last week, got called out on Tuesday to go do some arm twistin', darn politicians are trying to restrict drilling in the Gulf.  Not acceptable for Ewing Enterprises.

Made a slight recovery on Week 2 by hitting Oregon State over Wisconsin.  The cheese is smelly up there this year, I don't know why.

Season -$2700, 1-5


Pick #1
Kansas (+275, +9) at Northern Illinois
NIU was a darling of mine Week 1, coming oh so close to cashing in against Iowa (given 10 points). Now THEY'RE giving 10 points? Kansas is going to be a team that gets better week to week, after the loss to Rice, they were competitive against TCU, this isn't as formidable opponent.

Pick #2
Oregon State (+250, +7.5) at UCLA
Going to double down on the Beavers, not convinced UCLA is as polished as people think.  Oregon State has just had 1 game, for better or for worse, but it was a big win.

Pick #3
Kansas State (+425, +14) at Oklahoma
I don't feel like we know how good OU is. They may not be that good. KSU may be very good.  Or the opposite might be true. But a juicy money line here is too much to pass up, OU could stumble at home (admittedly for only like the 4th time in Bob Stoops reign, but still).

Just need to hit 2 of these and I'll be swimming in cash.  Shiner beer for everyone!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 9/16/2012

Difficult choice this week, but going with a new Grand Slam tour winner, albeit on the previous Monday (with rain delays).  Andy Murray has had an incredible season, with his emotional run to the Wimbledon final, and Olympic gold medal (on the same court over the same opponent) and now a coveted Grand Slam men's tennis win.  Keeping in mind, the US doesn't have one of these since 2003.  In any event, been a long week plus my time to post, but Andy Murray is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week.

Sportswoman of the Week Ending 9/9/2012

Another dominant two weeks in Flushing for Serena Williams, her 4th U.S. Open singles title and 15th Grand Slam singles title, with an amazing 79% win rate in GS Finals (2 of 4 losses were to her sister).  The 30-year-old has suffered only one loss (first round French) since May.  The first Wimbledon/US Open combo winner since the last time she did it 10 years ago.  Throw in some gold medals last month, and we have a very deserving Longhorndave Sportswoman of the Week!

Week 2 Upset Specials

Well I took a bath the first week, luckily I'm rich, I'll just sell a few more barrels of oil to pay the piper.  But let's move on to Week 2, I'm sure to improve.  Or else I just let John Ross start picking.  This week's new features, showing the spread AND money line, then my score will be based upon cash-ola.  $1G per pick, keeping it small.  But without further ado, here are the upsets of the week (must be a TD or more 'dog, picks are straight up.

Season:-$3,000, 0-3

Pick #1
Penn State (+325, +9.5) at Virginia
Typical overreaction to a Week 1 result.  Penn State had so much to deal with off the field, no wonder they tired in the 2nd half.  And Ohio isn't bad.  The Wahoos waltzed over FCS fodder, so we don't know if they're good.

Pick #2
Oregon State (+230, +7) vs. Wisconsin
Wisconsin looked off last week vs. FCS fodder, strong possibility they make a leap this week in improvement.  But on the road in Corvallis seems dangerous, the Beavers got an unexpected Bye last week due to Isaac

Pick #3
UTEP (+270, +8.5) vs. Ole Miss
Now I will overreact to Week 1, UTEP held OU in check (unlike their big brother UT Austin last year) while Ole Miss is rebuilding with a capital "R", allowing Central Arkansas to put up 27 points last week.  Throw in that Ole Miss might be looking forward to the Longhorns next week, watch out for the Miners.

So let's put on our big boy boots, reboot, and nail a couple games this week!

****Post Mortem Review****
Picked up some green with a win with Oregon State. One win pretty much floats the week, oh so close to two with the Nittany Lions (if they could just kick field goals, dammit).  So picked up $2300 in winnings, $2000 in losses, now -$2700 on the season...




Trend definitely developing here, two of my picks have been spread coverers each week, with one complete botchery.  This week's botchery were the Rebels in Oxford, if you're going to go down swinging, make sure it's in a fun college town.

Sportsman of the Week Ending 9/2/2012

We turn a new leaf over to college football this week, this performer put his Top 15 team on his broad shoulders and carried them to a victory in a Top 25 battle against Boise State.  Michigan State's Le'Veon Bell touched the ball 50 times for 265 total yards and 2 TD's (his team's only 2 TD's).  Trailing by 3 in the 4th quarter, he touched the ball 5 times for 19 hard earned yards including the 5 yard dart for the go ahead score.  Then, on the time killing drive after that, touched it 9 out of 11 Michigan State plays before all the team had to do but kneel.  A gutsy effort for the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Week 1 Upset Specials

J.R. Ewing here from Dallas fame, I'm sipping on some bourbon on the 38th floor of Ewing Enterprises tower in downtown Dallas and thinking about this opening week of college football.  The deal is, I'm going to lay out three picks a week, but there's a catch.  I'm taking a team straight up that is underdog by 7 points or more (ish).  These are matchups where I see, not only will the underdog cover, but send that favorite home with their panties wrapped around barbed wire.  In any event, let's get the fun started:

Pick #1:
Boise State (+7) d. Michigan State
Boise State hasn't lost a game by 7 or more points since 2007 (at least on the mainland they haven't).  New QB, yeah.  Michigan State is rising, yeah.  But weird things happen early in the season, and Week 1, a disciplined team with less talent can out execute the favorites.  Taking the Broncs.

Pick #2:
Northern Illinois (+10) d. Iowa
Iowa has been slipping for some time now.  Northern Illinois coming off their second straight 11 win season (not 10 win, 11 win).  This is one of those perfect storms again (game in DeKalb), early in the year, the scuffling programs haven't found their rhythm.

Pick #3:
Southern Methodist (+10) d. Baylor
We don't know what Baylor will look like without RGIII.  We do know SMU is stacked at QB and on the upswing under June Jones.  I'm buying that Baylor under Briles is going to be a perennial contender.  But this game looks tenuous.  Of course, I'm taking my hometown Dallas boys on this one in an old fashioned Texas shootout!

So there you go, we'll keep track of the weekly performance, can't expect to even go .500 in these games.  Or can I?

Last Week (N/A), Season (0-0)

****Post Mortem Review****
So I stumbled out of the block at 0-3 this week (and for season).  Was close on Pick #2, artificially close on Pick #1 (MSU could have scored most likely if they didn't take a knee), and totally whiffed on Pick #3.  That's okay, two shots of Dickel Tennessee Whisky and we'll be back at it next week, folks!

PS - We now know what Baylor looks like without RGIII, see, you learn something by following this blog!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 8/26/2012

Adrian Beltre had a legendary week in the first 5 days, then after cooling off the last 2, still had amazing stats.  He batted .590 from Monday through Friday, knocking 5 out of the park, hitting for the cycle (more rare than a no hitter), and clocking 9 RBI. And never struck out.  Despite a cooling off 0-8 on Saturday/Sunday, still hit .433 for the week. At one point during the week, went 11-14 with 5 out of the park (home run derby like stats). In any event, Adrian Beltre is a deserving Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Best Two-Sport Athletes - Football and Baseball

This is the second of a four part series examining the best two-sport athletes of the "modern" era.  "Modern" is defined in that I had to see them play (so no Jim Thorpe, Wilt Chamberlain, Jackie Robinson, Jesse Owens, Bob Hayes, etc.).  Each of the "big three" American sports (Basketball, Baseball, Football) will be paired with the others with best listed, then one "other" category which will consist of one of those 3, and another sport (like olympic sports for example).

Criteria are as follows:
1) Playing a high level at both.  Not included are going to be people who were good as prepsters but chose one sports over the other and never competed in college or beyond.
2) Accolades at the higher levels: Halls of Fame, All Stars, playing on title teams, big games, achievement over just playing

These were all off the top of my head (little research done, except after the candidates were identified) so I might have missed someone.  Feel free to set me straight!

So without further ado, the Top 5 two-sport athletes in Football and Baseball are below.  Two are fairly obvious, the debate begins after that.

#1 - Bo Jackson
College: Auburn
Highest Football: NFL (RB, 4 seasons)
Highest Baseball: MLB (OF, 8 seasons)
All Star season (Pro): 1x Pro Bowl (1990), 1x All Star Game (1989)
Honors: UPI Player of the Year, Walter Camp, Chic Harley, and Heisman (college football, 1985), All American (football, 1983&1985), College Football Hall of Fame, 1st overall NFL Pick (1986), 1989 All Star Game MVP (baseball), 1993 AL Comeback Player of the Year (baseball)
Records: None
Championships: None
Comments: Pro careers were cut short by that devastating hip injury, also ran track and field at Auburn, Ran a 4.12 40 yard dash at the NFL combine (hand timed).

#2 - Deion Sanders
College: Florida State
Highest Football: NFL (CB/S/KR/PR, 14 seasons)
Highest Baseball: MLB (OF, 9 seasons)
All Star season (Pro): 8x Pro Bowl, 8x All Pro (both football)
Honors: Pro Football Hall of Fame (2011), College Football Hall of Fame (2011), NFL All Decade team (1990's), AP Defensive Player of the Year (1994), 2x NFC Defensive Player of the Year (1993, 1994), Atlanta Falcons Ring of Honor, 1st Round NFL Draft Pick (5th overall, 1989), Consensus All American (college football 1986, 1987), Jim Thorpe Award (1988)
Records: Pro Bowl Interceptions Career (4), Florida State career punt return yards, Longest Interception Return in a Bowl Game (100 yards)
Championships: 2x Super Bowl Champ (XXIX, XXX), NL Champions (1992)
Comments: In college, once played both games of a baseball doubleheader while running a leg of the 4x100 in between.  Batted .533 in the World Series.  By accomplishment, better than Bo, but nobody was better than Bo in terms of athleticism.

#3 - Brian Jordan
College: Richmond
Highest Football: NFL (SS, 3 seasons)
Highest Baseball: MLB (OF, 15 seasons)
All Star season (Pro): All Star (1999, baseball)
Honors: 1st round MLB Draft pick (1988), Top 10 MVP vote (baseball, 1996), appeared on 2012 MLB Hall of Fame Ballot (0 votes) 
Records: None
Championships: 1999 NL Pennant
Comments: A solid player in both sports, with the All Star appearance in baseball, gave up football after two seasons as a full time starter to sign a more lucrative MLB contract than he would have received otherwise.  Because his college was not nationally renown, lacks some of the honors we see in above and below players.

#4 - Todd Helton
College: Tennessee
Highest Football: College (QB, 3 seasons)
Highest Baseball: MLB (1B, 16 seasons, still active)
All Star season (Pro): 5x All Star (2000 - 2004)
Honors: Gatorade Player of the Year (high school) for football and baseball at Tennessee, Regional baseball player of the year (high school), Baseball America High School All American, Dick Howser trophy (college baseball), 2nd in MLB Rookie of the year (1998), 3 Gold Gloves, 4 Silver Sluggers, 3x Top 10 MVP vote, 2000 Hank Aaron Award, 2000 Batting/Hits/Doubles/Total Bases/RBI Champ, First round (8th overall) pick in MLB draft.
Records: Rockies records for hits (2,407), home runs (354), doubles (566), walks (1,283), runs scored (1,355), RBIs (1,340), games played (2,105), and total bases (4,107), NCAA record for most consecutive scoreless innings pitched (47), Tennessee saves record (11).
Championships: 2007 NL Pennant
Comments: Was backup QB to (now congressman) Heath Shuler, was ahead of Peyton Manning on depth chart and started for 3 weeks until injured (Peyton took over for like 4 years).  Also pitched in college (see records, posted 0.89 ERA during saves record).

#5 - John Elway
College: Stanford
Highest Football: NFL (QB, 16 seasons)
Highest Baseball: Minor Leagues (OF, 1 season)
All Star season (Pro): 9x Pro Bowl
Honors: Pro Football Hall of Fame (2004), Super Bowl XXXIII MVP, 1987 NFL MVP, 1st overall NFL Pick (1983), Denver Broncos Ring of Fame, NFL All Decade team (1990's), 2x UPI AFC Player of the year (1987, 1993), College Football Hall of Fame (2000), Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, 2nd round pick in the 1981 MLB Draft.
Records: All the Broncos records (yards, tds, completions, TDs, etc.), oldest QB to win a Super Bowl (38)
Championships: 2x Super Bowl Champ (XXXII, XXXIII), 5x AFC Champion
Comments: Baseball exploits are muted, but good stats in college and in the minors (which started before his NFL days).  Football exploits are legendary.