2026 NFL WEEK 8 SAY IT AINT SO JOES EDITION

 Before we get to our picks, word reaches us here far away from South Beach that the best deal in town is over, fini, gone- the $8.95 fried chicken platter at Joes. Miami regulars know that Joes- famous for stone crabs- had the best, most juicy and delicious fried chicken around for the great price of $8.95. 

Now it's gone. The new price is $14.95, which is still a bargain for the great food, but...like Costco's $1.50 hot dog and soda deal, the loss leader makes Costco millions of dollars. People come and spend a thousand bucks on twenty boxes of mac and cheese, gallon size ketchup bottles and the like, and then feel they got a deal because they get a hot dog and coke for a buck-fifty. Similarly, Rumpole and Miamians in the know have taken out of town guests for years to Joes, sprung for their cole-slaw, select crab claws, potatoes and key lime pie slices and ordered the fried chicken with the excuse we are all crab-clawed-out. 

Big Mistake Joes....big big mistake. 

Let's make some money to pay for that increase in fried chicken and first up is 

Bills at home coming off a break -3.5 over the hapless, lead-blowing Ravens. Yes, Lamar is back. But yes, he makes big mistakes in big games. Yes Bills have no D, and No it doesn't matter. Laying 3.5 is a gift. '

Every tout on-line likes the Steelers coming off a win in Paris over the CardiacKids V.20 Cleveland Browns in the matchup in the Steel City this week. Steelers were -3 early in the week. We jumped on it and the line went to 3.5 which we do not love as much, but if you want to bet the game lay the points AND make your real money betting on RB Jaylen Warren over 60 yards. Warren has rushed for nearly 500 yards in the last four games and film study shows the Steelers O line is the reason. 

Vikes go down this week on the road in Detroit. With the best D coach (and former Fin head coach) Brian Flores, the Purple People Eaters V2.0 D is for real. Their offense is not- somehow their free agent QB is the only QB on earth who can't find their all world WR Jefferson open during the game. Minnesota is not the best team in the league, and they get their first loss today. Lions -3.5.

YOUR SURVIVOR POOL WINNER IS ....

First, props to the prescient Jurist Miguel De La Over who before the season began picked the first Fins win for week 7 against the Jets. 

In Week Six Juan Gonzalez went down with the Commanders leaving IFTIKHAR MEMON who lost last week with the Ravens getting jacked by the Bengals  which means the crown goes to Blog Legend....drum roll please....

FAKE ALEX MICHAELS!!!!  He had the Steelers in week 6 and the Bucs in week 7.

IN TRIAL AND NOT HAPPY 

BEST CANDY AND SCARY JUDGES

 First up is the never say die Tampa Rays who won a thriller in extra innings late Tuesday night and are still alive, Game five is next up Wednesday night, and if they win this one, our Rays in the series bet is still alive and pitching. 

This is the great Halloween year, when the day falls on Saturday. Perfect for parties we would never attend as a misanthropic blogger and longer hours for Trick and Treaters whose plaintive cries for candy we will not answer.  (We might leave out a bowl....we'll see). 

Our first question is what is your Favourite Halloween Candy?  Our Who is the Scariest Judge question is below. Don't miss it. 

Grumpy and old, we like old time favourites. 

M&M's- plain and peanut depending on our mood. Reese's Pieces and Peanut Butter Cups. A cold Nestles Crunch in the fridge. Ditto Kit Kats cold and snappy. Candy Corn when all the other candy is gone. 

Send us your picks and we will post them. 

Our fav Halloween movies? American Werewolf in London, followed by the Black and White Classics Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein  (with Bela Lugosi as Dracula!! who steals every scene he's in), followed by all the other Meets including Abbott and Costello Meet The Invisible Man...Meet The Mummy... Meet Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde. 

They don't make movies like those anymore.  

If you want more Halloween stuff, with an REGJB slant, answer this: Who was/is  the scariest judge you appeared before? 

Now be nice here- don't attack anyone. What we are asking is which judge scared/scares  you? 

We will start. As a young lawyer County Court Judge Alfred Nesbitt (who was one of the first to wear coloured robes on the bench) made our knees a bit weak before we took a deep breath and walked into the courtroom. Ditto Judge Ellen Morphonious who called us, and most everyone Pal - even in front of the jury. 

And of course, 3rd DCA Judge Alan Schwartz, who was a giant on that bench and inspired terror in many a lawyer is on our list. Our first encounter with him ended with a brusque "Sit down. You Lost."  But we kept plugging on and when he would sit on the circuit bench in our REGJB we got to know him over coffee in the Pickle Barrell and became friends, and it was a friendship we valued. 

Remember- be nice- who scared you is the topic. Nasty comments will wither and die next to the bad Halloween candy like Sour Patch. 

Yuck

GOODBYE FOR NOW

 We will soon say goodbye for now to baseball. The Milwaukee Brewers will most likely sweep the North Florida Rays in the World Series (full disclosure we bet on the Rays to win the series ...😰) and then baseball as we know it will end for sometime. 

Why? You may ask. Glad you did. You've come to the right place. Let us put the current dispute between the owners and the players in terms even a county court DeSantis Drone could understand. 

It is as if the State (the Owners) are offering two consecutive 364 jail sentences on a first DUI and the defense (the Players) want a bind down to careless driving and a w/h and court costs and eleven years to pay,

Get it? 

The Owners want a salary cap. 

The players will not agree to a salary cap and want minimum salaries raised, and the rules on bringing a player up from the minors changed to a minimum of a week so players aren't shuttled between the majors and the minors daily, There's more to the dispute, but these are the big issues. 

What will happen next? 

The Brewers will win the world series, and then the Owners will lock-out the players. MLB has already produced new websites for each team with no players listed. Players will not be able to use their teams' facilities to train, and they will not be paid. 💸

This will not be settled this year. That's a Rumpole guarantee. 

This will not be settled in time for opening day 2027. Ditto. 

The question is which side will cave, and when? If there is a settlement then expect it around late May/early June 2027. If the dispute does not settle by then the 2027season may well be canceled.  Say it ain't so Joe.

Put Me In Coach, I'm Ready To Play...😬

Nothing good will come of this.  That's a Rumpole Guarantee. 

There's always You Tube. 

If you do not appreciate Vin Scully calling a World Series Game in October, please leave the blog and never return. You are not our kind of people. 

Here are three calls of the famous 1988 walk off home run:

DOWN GOES FRAZIER

 In the rarified world of Big Law, Weil, Gotshal & Manages used to be as big as it gets. 

Used to be. 

Not any longer. 

Today the WSJ reports that Weil has engaged the services of a bankruptcy partner at Davis Polk. 

Wow. Say it ain't so Joe. 

And you gotta believe once word got out, all of Weil's competitors went after the big Weil rainmakers like the soulless sharks they are. 🦈

In the history of Big Law, the failure of Weil is as shocking as George Forman's destruction of Joe Frazier. 

We want to apologize.* We had a great pick Sunday-Giants +10 over Texans, but we were out and about and could not post it in time. And that bad luck became good luck when we liked Philly over Dallas Monday night, and that didn't turn out like we expected.  So it all equaled out. 

On to the next week of football. 

Fun fact: Monday saw every major sport in action- baseball, football, hockey, and basketball- the internet was calling it the Sports Equinox. 

*Totally out of character for us. 

WEEK 7 NFL 2026

 Bonjour and welcome to week 7 of the 2026 NFL season featuring a Paris matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and French Right Wing Rassemblent National leader Marie le Pen the New Orleans Saints. Steelers are three points favourites. But any betting in France is risky. Many had the French plus 3 over Germany in 1940 but the French didn't cover (they never do) as the Wehrmacht rolled through France like a Miami judge at a free buffet with an open bar. 

Your Miami Dolphis are back in action, which means another less, this time at Met Life Stadium in New Jersey against the Jets. Jets win, but could be closer than the 4.5 the Fins are getting. Oliie Gordon is +205 to score an any time TD and that is the play here as Gordon has been hitting on this bet ever since Achane went down and he became the starting RB

Only game we really love are the undefeated KC Chiefs getting 3 on the road Sunday night in Seattle. Take KC to keep the win streak rolling. 

If we see any line changes that interest us we will post them. 

BMO

Here's your Copenhagen update. The one you have been waiting for. 

Do you know what is all the rage in Copenhagen (Motto: "We're that city in Europe no one can ever really place...")  Bread and Cheese. Really. No not the DCJ lunch menu. Real bread and real cheese that people are flocking to bakeries for. It's called bolle med ost (bun with cheese) BMO for short, and costs about 45 Kroners (7 bucks), and is selling out of bakeries everywhere there. 

Pretty sure this is AI, but still brought a chuckle. 

Enjoy your Friday and weekend. 

SCRAPPY

 We got a lot going on Thursday. 

First up- some truly shocking news. Steady yourself... This article reports on States not paying a lot for Public Defenders!!😲 Say it ain't so Joe. 

Next up, everyone's fav organization the Florida Bar (Motto: "Ruining lawyers' days with those letters since 1899..." ) had an employee who was sending racists messages to a UM Hurricane Football player.  

If the Bar had an employee who was violating the code of conduct, and as we all know lawyers are responsible for their employees, can we...wait for it...disbar the Bar? 

Kind of a catchy slogan. And nothing better than kicking a bully when they are down. The Bar is many thing, but not Scrappy (keep reading).  If we go after them, they will crumble like a cheap house of marked cards.  

And finally another week of profitable football picks kicks off Thursday night with Liberty at Kennesaw State. Everyone knows we cannot pass up a good Kennesaw State game, so we are taking The Owls +10 and the moneyline +350 (fun fact their mascot is called Scrappy the Owl).

Scrappy 

 As for the other game, Bears -2.5 over the Cheaters, and under 50.5. 

Everyone likes the Brewers in the World Series. We like the Rays +150 (a bet of a 100 returns 150). Yes Miami, there is a World Series, No Miami, the Marlins aren't in it so you do not need to try and get game 7 tix. 

GET EVEN MONDAY

 Well Sunday was a blankety-blank show. Very little went well. We stayed away from the Rams game worried about a back-door cover, only to lose a while bunch of chicken wings on the Bills when the Raiders covered at the end of the game. Only a play we had on Bills WR Coleman catching a TD saved us. We even cashed out for a small profit on the Steelers/Tampa over only to see it hit and miss a big payoff when the Steelers scored a TD in OT. 

Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you. 

On to MNF! Except we hate the 7.5 line SF over DC. 6.5 would be a whole lot better. Let's take the under 51.5 hoping that DC's offense fizzles.  We are taking a parlay of Purdy over 210 yards and Daniels over 220 yards- where 25 pays 60. 

Survivor Pool is up on Sunday's post.  Several of your favourite players fell with the Rams. 

Any legal news we should know about?