WEEK ONE

The fun and profit starts today!!!!
Just keep one thing in mind for a profitable year- The Dolphins.
Bet against them whenever the line allows it.

Early in the year means the offenses are ahead of defenses, so we start by looking for lower over/under totals.

Unless otherwise stated, all of our lines come from the USA Today online lines.

Our Suicide Pick: Chargers over the Bears.
David Markus: Steelers over Browns. (while we think the Steelers will win, we would advise Mr. Markus in general to pick home team favorites in a suicide pool. But he is smarter than we are and doesn't need our advice. He knows the intricacies of things like "me versus I" for real good grammar and such.)
Toots: Seahawks over the Bucs.
Rick Freedman: Jaguars over Titans.
Feet of Clay: Cowboys over Giants.
Miguel De la O(over): Seattle over Tampa Bay.

RUMPOLE'S PICKS:

The Bears travel to San Diego and the Chargers are -5.5 favorites over Rumpole’s second most overrated team in the NFC (the Saints are the most overrated team. Get a secondary will ya?) Give the points and watch the Bears crumble. No Lovie for Smith’s Bruins today. Chargers roll.

Patriots at Jets. The o/u is 41. We seem to remember a bad beat last year on an o/u Pats/Jets game as we liked the over and the final the score was something like 10-3. Once burned but not twice shy. Revamped Patriots Offense plus the loss of a Patriots starting cornerback on defense turns this one into a Meadowlands shoot out.
J-E-T-S-Over Over Over.41.

Arizona at San Fran. We really like both these teams. Great new coach in Arizona with Kenny Whizenhut and Russ Grimm taking their Steeler success to the Cardinals. This Arizona team will make a statement this year. But the 49’ers are more mature. Great drafts over the last few years are now ready to payoff. San Fran is our pick to win the division this year and Alex Smith is the more experienced QB over pretty boy Lineart. A nice low line of -3.5 makes the 49’ers a good home team play.

KC at Houston. Take the over 38.

Tennessee at Jacksonville. Take the over 37.5

(Those are our picks that will count. Purely for entertainment, we try and pick the two best games of the week. Since we make the rules, we only count the outcome if we win.)

Game of the week:
Monday Night Football humdinger as Ravens travel to Cincinnati for a week one divisional match-up. We’re not high on either team this year. We think this is the year the Ravens get old, and Cincinnati’s defense resembles the REGJB security screeners- everything gets in, nothing gets stopped, and the personnel have pending criminal cases. Lay the 2.5 and take the home team Bengals as the history is that these teams split with the home team getting the win.

52nd Street Irwin's Inside tip (see below to find out just who Irwin is) : One word: TOE. Ravens Pro Bowl Offensive Lineman Jonathan Ogden has turf toe. The Ravens depend on him to protect Steve McNair, who is almost as old as Richard Hersch, and to open running lanes for new RB Willis McGahee. With Ogden limping and possibly out, the Ravens are a considerably weaker team than most people realize.

Alternate game of the week divisional rivalry:
Giants go to Dallas. Cowboys give 5.5 to the visiting Gints. Cowboys have the talent, but new Coach Wade Phillips.....uuggh. Vanilla re-tread at best. Rumpole says, give the points if you must play this game.

As an old bookie we knew growing up, named 52nd Street Irwin used to say “Now let us learn you something”.

Don’t play more than two games, three tops. You can’t beat the vig. Ever. (How do you think we paid for law school? On the backs of schnooks who need action.) If you want to gamble, you look for your one best shot, shove all your chips in and let it roll. You can’t beat the odds over a life time, but you can find good bets and swing the odds in your favor every now and then. If you want to turn a profit, find a game or two that you like and take your shot.

If you want action on ten games a week, please listen to us- just email those picks to us and we will book everyone of them every week and every time.
And when you don’t pay up, 52nd Street Irwin, who has retired to Miami, will be looking for you, and he will not be happy.

Have fun.


Last minute news, notes, and thoughts: Steelers have uncertainty on the offensive line and last minute replacements at fullback and kick returner. That can't be good. Broncos have the talent to win the Super Bowl. And for the last two years they traveled east and lost their season opener to vastly inferior teams. Denver plays Buffalo and we wouldn't touch this one with Rick Freedman's civil fees let alone our money. Jags are 8-0 in last 8 home openers and yet the QB situation has us nervous. Vince Young can win a game by himself, and will have to do that most of the time this year. I can't get a read on the Seahawks. Today is a good game to watch. They should win this one, and super bowl teams win the ones they should win. Redskins can make a statement today by the blitz. Superior corners and safety's are the strength of this team. Question is whether new QB has the right stuff. Could be a long day for Trent Green unless he gets his bell rung. Cleo anyone? I am nervous about my suicide pick. This was a pretty tough week and new coach Norv Turner in San Diego makes me nervous. But my gut feeling is Bears are way overrated and will tumble this year like Steelers did last year. Rex Grossman is not the QB to build a wining team around in the NFL. Bears will miss the loss of the A Train more than they realize and several contract issues including the Head Coach have team members whispering about salaries more than you would like. Last year's success has bred this year's dissension.
Finally, current genius - Patriots coach Belichick -has re-built his team with one thing in mind: to match offense with the Colts. He is convinced shoot-outs and 45 point scoring is the wave of the future. I am not convinced he is right. I don't think Pats make the AFC Championship game. They have too much talent to have a bad season, but something tells me not everything is kosher in bean town. If you read the NY Post every day, then you know the resident genius has some troubles in his personal life, not including Randy Moss. We shall see.