well, we’re getting the snow and i’m taking a break from shovelling because the snow mostly sticks to the shovel and it’s already filled back up wherever i’ve already cleared… just one of those moments of futility in life… so, i’m taking this quick time out to make my football picks… no filler, just the picks…

COMING AROUND THE FINAL TURN

now playing: 15 Step – Radiohead

- Saints will beat the Cowboys… and apparently that game is tonight… so check that out if you can…
- Bills over Patriots (yes, there IS a Santa Claus)
- Titans over Dolphins
- Chiefs over Browns (what a compelling matchup)
- Eagles over 49ers (in a close one)
- Texans over Rams
- Falcons over Jets
- Cards over Lions
- Broncos over Raiders (who would’ve thought that having to play your starting QB because the backup was injured would be a bad thing?)
- Chargers over Bengals (that should’ve been the flex game)
- Ravens over Bears
- Packers over Steelers
- Bucs over Hawks
- Vikings over Panthers
- Skins over Giants (in the SNOW!)

DIGGING OUT

i guess it’s back to the grind… more on the other side of this blizzard…

peace… love… bdg…

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so it’s almost time for another football entry, but here’s a quick change of pace during which time, i’ll discuss a couple books that i’ve finished reading… hard to believe that it’s only nine days away from Christmas… i’m working night and day (well, mostly night) to put together a new issue of theTRu.print (about 5 of 12 pages done at the moment) and, of course, working on the redesign as well… in the meantime, i’ll be trying to keep things updated here a little better as well… for now, it’s on with the show… books… let’s dig in…

TOTAL GLOBAL DOMINATION

now playing: If I Ruled the World – Sammy Davis, Jr

5 Cities that Ruled the World- Douglas Wilson

initially, this book jumped out at me… i mean, i’m a history buff in much the same way that the Buffalo Bills are a Super Bowl contender, but i do enjoy learning about history and i often find it to be fascinating… (especially when presented properly)… so this book seemed to be right up my alley… a brief look at the history of the world in five sections, tidily summed up and (presumably) easy to read…

i must first admit that i didn’t recognize the name attached to the project – Douglas Wilson is, apparently, a well-known theologian (well known by people other than me) – and thus i was surprised by the immediate and continual thread of religious implications that ran throughout what otherwise read as the scripts for episodes of City Confidential… (anyone ever watched that show? anyone?)… once i understood the perspective from which the book was written, however, all was fine and i enjoyed the book for what it is…

the book does, in fact, describe the history of five cities and the legacy that they’ve left behind throughout history… or, in the case of New York City (perhaps the most personally interesting chapter) is currently leaving for the rest of history… coincidentally (or not?) the legacies all relate to freedom of some sort or another… Wilson clearly believes that freedom is life’s end game and, for him, each city represents the unlocking of a new facet of life over time… and it all leads up to New Jerusalem which will usher in complete and total freedom…

the quirkiness that litters the pages can work, depending on how you read (me, i read with inflection in my head)… but as charming as it can be, it does present a bit of distraction and adds to the overall cluttered content… and by “cluttered,” i mean that at times it feels like the book has no structure and that the topics at hand are lost in a whirlwind of whimsy… and again, this can work, but it does make following along – or retaining anything of value – fairly difficult… scratch that, challenging…

all in all, i’m glad that i read this book as it was rather engaging and enjoyable… i think that, had it been a lecture – or perhaps a 5-part, 30 minutes each lecture series – it would be very popular… as a book, i suppose it’s pretty niche, but definitely a nice read… [and in the interest of full disclosure i got it from Thomas Nelson for free]…

AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP…

now playing: Story – The Rocket Summer

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
by Donald Miller

it was a long time ago (feels like it anyway) that i first happened to hear Donald Miller give a talk about the concept of story and how the elements that make up a successful story can influence how we live our lives… this is another memoir from Donald Miller and once again, he manages to write in such a way that is comforting and casual… having read this and some of Miller’s previous books, i feel like i’ve had some incredibly interesting conversations with the most familiar stranger i’ve never met… (it puzzles me sometimes, too)…

Here’s the thing though, i know that books are one-way communications, but books like this make me talk to myself for hours on end afterwards… (it’s not out loud… usually)… anyway, it’s hard to really unpack this book without it all spilling out on the page in front of me, so i’ll try to just pick out a few of the highlights…

the book centers around character development, which plays out in to scenarios – in a story and in real life… Miller talks about how the traits and qualities that endear us to characters in a movie are the qualities and traits that we should work on developing in our own lives… we need to have the right goals and ambitions in life if we ever want our lives to have any meaning… one of the lines that stood out to me came after Miller described the scene of his uncle’s funeral… something to the effect that if you die and you weren’t telling a good story with your life, nobody will say that you died too soon, just that you’re dead… basically, you need to make sure that no matter when you die, it’s too soon…

The long and the short of it is that Donald Miller weaves in a number of interesting storylines to support what appears to be a very solid philosophy for life… i highly recommend this book and any of his others… and listening to his talk, too… [and for the sake of full disclosure i bought TWO copies of this book with my own money - no free copy (what's up with THAT?)]…

CLOSING THE BOOK…

that’s going to do it for now… i’m currently reading The Silver Chair from the Chronicles of Narnia, I Am America (and So Can You), Live from Middle America, and i’m about to dive into Saint… and if i don’t get to it tomorrow, the Colts are going to win…

peace… love… bdg…

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i’m really tired, short on time, and looking at a BIG to-do list… looking forward to a quiet, low-key long weekend soon, called Christmas… anyway, this weekend winners are as follows…

Saints over Falcons
- Ravens over Lions (close one though)
- Packers over Bears
- Seahawks over Texans
- Colts over Broncos
- Fins over Jags
- Bills over Chiefs
- Vikings over Bengals
- Panthers over Pats (this is my make-up underdog call for missing the Browns)
- Bucs over Jets
- Titans over Rams
-Raiders over Skins
- Chargers over Cowboys
-Eagles over Giants
-Cards over 49ers…

peace… love… bdg…

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as much as i’d love to pick the Browns over the Steelers tonight… (and i’m really close to believing that they can do it)… i have to say that the Steelers will unfortunately prevail tonight… even without that sissy Hines Ward… (i jest about the sissy part)…

i’m off to see Chris Tomlin and his mysterious, magical, musical Christmasy show… (or something to that effect)…

peace… love… bdg…

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well, i went 12-4 again last week, but i’m already 0-1 this week… off we go…

JUST THE PICKS, MAN, JUST THE PICKS

now playing: Mad Season – Matchbox 20

‘Tis the season for pretty much ZERO free time… here we go with just the picks from around the league…

- Eagles over Falcons
- Panthers over Bucs
- Bears over Rams
- Bengals over Lions
- COLTS OVER TITANS!
- Texans over Jags
- Broncos over Chiefs
- Patriots over Fins
- Steelers over Raiders
- Saints over Redskins
- Chargers over Browns
- Giants over Cowboys
- 49ers over Seahawks
- Vikings over Cards
- Packers over Ravens

AND THAT’S IT…

time to go shovel or something…

peace… love… bdg…

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Bills win tonight… hopefully, i’ll be back with more soon…

peace… love… bdg…

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so, if we learned anything from last week’s games, we learned that when a terrible team plays another terrible team it will be a GREAT game… also that when a terribly overyped but utterly woeful team plays another team of the same caliber, it will be three and a half hours that you want back from your life…

of course, the former refers to the Lions/Browns game, which was perhaps the most exhilarating game of utterly zero consequence we’ve seen this year… and the latter refers to the mind-numbing showdown between the Redskins and the Cowboys… also a one-point victory, but one that was marked more by disfunction than anything else…

Anyway, i went 12-4 with my predictions, bringing my totals on the season to a whopping 112 right with only 47 miscues… on the other hand, my lack of attentiveness in regards to fantasy football have left me falling and failing week in and week out… i got swept this week and have completely lost all hope in one of the leagues, but am still holding out hope in the other two… but enough about me… let’s talk about some football…

TURKEY DAY CLASSICS

now playing: Jive Turkey – Theory Hazit ft. Ohmega Watts

tradition is a pretty funny thing… everyone tends to despise the notion that they may have fallen into a rut during their daily lives… everyday patterns are considered boring and irritating… traditions, however, are welcome repetitions possibly because they have some sentimental attachment to particular events… i say, tomato, tom-ah-to…

anyway, Thanksgiving is steeped in tradition… there’s the feasting, the family gathering, and, of course, the football games… well this year, tradition has let us down with abismal matchups between the Lions and Packers, the Raiders and Cowboys, and the Broncos and Giants… the obvious problems in the early games are that the Lions are 2-8, the Raiders are 3-7 and the other four teams are struggling to find themselves, which isn’t the best place to be in going into week 12… all of these games have the potential of being really boring… i guess what i’m really saying is that you might consider dusting off the VCR and watching Doug Flutie make Thanksgiving history leading Boston College against Miami 25 years ago…

anyway, here are my picks for Thursday’s actual games…
- Packers trounce the ailing Lions 42-17
- Raiders put up quite a fight, but end up letting the Cowboys win 20-16
- Giants – see, this one’s tough to pick – well, the Giants win 28-20

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY (AND MONDAY)…

now playing: Sunday Bloody Sunday – U2

moving on to Sunday, after sleeping off the big feast.. we’ve got a cornucopia of games to pick and early on, the most interesting stop is the rematch between the 10-0 Colts and the hobbling Texans… it would be easy to pick the Colts in a blowout since the Texans have really had some rough outings and plenty of problems over the past couple weeks, but then again, they are the Texans… and they’ve got a top wide receiver, i mean, quarterback, i mean, running back, i mean all three… there’s always the potential of a high-scoring game… then again, they are playing the Colts… and no matter how many points the Texans score, i’m pretty sure that one Mr. Manning can score at least one more… Colts: 38-23

the rest…
- Bills over Fins (i know, shut up) 27-25
- Bengals over Browns (i should hope so) 40-19
- Panthers over Jets (J-E-S-T, er) 21-7
- Falcons over Bucs (like a weather balloon over Denver) 29-17
- Eagles over Redskins (please not like last week) 22-13
- Seahawks over Rams (the Rams still stink, right?) 14-10

at the later hour, the key matchup has to be the Cardinals and the Titans… both teams have a bad case of trying to prove that they are who they… were last year… and crucial to the outcome may be whether or not Kurt Warner is able or allowed to play, given the concussion “like” symptoms he experienced last week… not sure that Leinart can really rally the team, less sure that the Cards can contain Chris Johnson, not looking good for the Cards… i wouldn’t normally, but i’ve gotta go with Tennessee 35-23

more “middle” games…
- Chargers over the Chiefs (that’s the resurging Chiefs to you) 27-21
- Jags over the 49ers (maybe next year 5-0) 20-10
- Vikings over Bears (doesn’t Adrian Peterson play for the Vikings?) 31-15

Sunday Night… the prime time spot goes to the Ravens and the Steelers… and it may be Batch vs Flacco… wait, scratch Batch… Dennis Dixon… Big Ben has that concussion thing going on, but, i’d bet he plays anyway, i mean, Dixon has a perfect completion percentage (1-1 for 3 yards), but no one wants to see him against the Ravens… the Steelers are reeling from a weird loss last week and the Ravens are just reeling in general… i see the Steelers coming out of this one with a 28-9 victory…

Monday Night… could be the second biggest game of the year… (up until the 17-0 Colts meet the 17-0 Saints in the Superbowl)… anyway, the Patriots have more reason than any other team to stop the Saints from a perfect season… and the bitterness that fuels them perhaps will be their undoing… i think this will be a great game and will end up as a 45-42 shootout tilted towards the 11-0 (after this week) Saints…

okay everybody… that’s all from me for now… have a super spectacular Thanksgiving… i’m going to try to rest up and get some long overdue work done during my brief, but highly anticipated break…

peace… love… bdg…

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Well, i did it… i broke 100 last week – two weeks earlier than i did last year… and since i got it right for a second straight Thursday, i’m already on the path to crush last year’s numbers… though, with the large amount of teams that are just plain terrible this year, i suppose it’s somewhat of a shallow victory… but i’ll still take it… this week, besides picks, i have a few things to talk about that are related… and we’ll see where this all goes…

WOE BILLS, I MEAN GO BILLS…

now playing: Streams of Woe at Acheron – Falling Up

Well, the Bills really outdid themselves last week… they turned a respectable game into a blow out in the blink of an eye… two fourth quarter pick-sixes – one from each QB and suddenly they’ve lost by 24 points… and then… and then… Dick Jauron gets fired and Perry Fewell takes over… and then… and then… before Fewell even cuts his teeth as a head coach, the Bills contact Mike Shanahan and possibly Bill Cowher… seems like an odd method of leadership, quite honestly…

Fewell has done a great job with the defense this year and it makes perfect sense to give him the chance to step up, but it almost feels like he’s being immediately distracted by a need to find a job for next year… the pursuit of a new coach make it clear that Wilson doesn’t expect this to be a long-term promotion… and we all know that when a new head coach/GM of any known caliber comes on board, the entire coaching staff gets a reboot… thus not only will Fewell be out at the head spot, but very likely at defensive coordinator as well…

this dynamic appears to be playing out at the quarterback position… Fitzpatrick has been named the starter for this week, perhaps giving him the opportunity to step out of the back-up role he’s played to Trent Edwards… and this is deserved since he did pretty well during Trent’s injury… however, before the first snap, the Bills have brought in a new QB in Brian Brohm, effectively communicating a distrust in both QBs… (not that it’s unwarranted)…

of course, this all began at the beginning of the season when Wilson hamstrung the offense by axing offensive coordinator Turk Schonert the week before the season began… Alex Van Pelt hardly had a chance to really plan or prepare to run the entire offense… and i should mention that if the Bills bring on Cowher, we will officially be at an impasse… don’t get me wrong, the Bills are still my team, but that would be… ugh…

anyway… looking forward… Ralph Wilson promises to overhaul the team and that sounds good… definitely need some work there and they’re probably not going to be able to bring back Flutie, which is always my solution… Jauron certainly needed to go – as nice a guy as he may be, he coaches a legacy of losing and that’s clearly not changing anytime soon… TO probably won’t be back – maybe they’ll trade him to the Patriots, Dolphins, or Jets so that he can have a great season crushing them… coupled with the drama of the Redskins, it’s just a rough year for the teams i pay attention to most…

THE OWNER’S BOX…

now playing: Man Watcha Doin? – FM Static

well, i went a little long in the first section there… and i kind of touched on some of the points i was going to touch on here, only as they apply to the Redskins… and since, i had also planned this as a tease to a larger writing effort, i’ll simply say that the NFL owners have provided a number of wonderful examples of bad leadership this season… and i’ll have more on that at a later date…

YOU CAN’T PICK YOUR FRIEND’S NOSE…

now playing: Pick Up Sticks – The Dave Brubeck Quartet

i’m going to go ahead and say that this is a must win week for every team… the number of elite teams has dwindled to four (Colts, Saints, Vikings, and Bengals) and, there’s still about eight absolutely terrible teams, but what’s left is a big mish-mosh of teams hoping to still make the cut… and so, we’re actually seeing some good matchups… as such, i’m going to pretty much do straight picks this week… my time is limited and i have so many non-football things to write and do… anyway… off we go…

early games…
- Steelers over Chiefs
- 49ers over Packers
- Lions over Browns
- Colts over Ravens
- Vikings over Seahawks
- Cowboys over Redskins
- Bills over Jags
- Giants over Falcons
- Saints over Bucs

middle games…
- Cards over Rams
- Pats over Jets
- Bengals over Raiders
- Chargers over Broncos

Sunday Night…
- Eagles over Bears

Monday Night…
- Titans over Texans

and i’m on my way…

peace… love… bdg…

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i’m going with the fins tonight, though i may regret that since the Panthers are healthy…

i’ll be back in a bit…

peace… love… bdg…

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back in the saddle last week… and i posted a nice 10-3 record which puts me at a cool 88-40 overall this season… and with 15 games this week and one already in the win column (thank you Jay Cutler), maybe, just maybe, i can break 100 this week… anyway, my time seems a little limited right now, so i’ll dive right into the picks and see if i can get to something else…

WHO’S GONNA WIN

now playing: Mad Season – Matchbox 20

it seems to me that the highlight of the early games will be the Bengals at the Steelers… the reigning Super Bowl champs hosting one of the hottest teams of the year… wonder what Ochocinco sent to Paulamalu this week… the Bengals are coming off of a second straight dismantling of the Ravens and the Steelers are riding more than a mile high from sticking it to the Broncos last week… and with the Steelers at home, they’re probably the favorite… however, i’m going with the Bengals in something of a shootout, 33-27

elsewhere around the league…
- Falcons over Panthers
- Fins over Bucs (though, it’ll be closer than you may expect)
- Vikes over Lions
- Jags over Jets
- Saints over Rams (some of these are so easy)
- Bills over Titans
- Broncos over Redskins (you have to play BOTH halves, Campbell)

Late games feature the big matchup of the Packers and the Cowboys… in the frozen tundra… or the probably chilly tundra… the Packers just had their, um, respect handed to them by the struggling Bucs (traditionally a thorn in their sides) and the Cowboys look like they’re finally starting to roll… that said, the Packers should take advantage of being at home and the fact that Romo will throw two or three picks and win this one steadily, 21-17

also vying for your attention…
- Chiefs over Raiders
- Cards over Seahawks
- Chargers over Eagles… (oh, that should have been a spotlight game, but no time)…

Sunday Sunday Sunday Night Night Night… the Patriots head into Indy to face the Colts… Brady vs. Manning… and both defenses already reeling with injuries… the Pats have the upper hand on defense, but the Colts are undefeated and, despite struggling at times during the season, they’ve consistently found ways to win… it’s going to be leg… wait for it… en… hold your breath… dary!… a clash of epic proportions… and in the end… i’m pulling for and picking the Colts in what will probably be a stunner…

which leaves us with Monday Night Football… and an absolutely unbelievable matchup… the Browns and the Ravens… on what planet does that look like a game worth watching?… anyway, Quinn is supposed to start again for the Browns, but it really doesn’t matter… the Ravens will win in a blowout…

AND THAT’S IT…

i think that’s the doorbell… goodbye.

peace… love… bdg…

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