WEEK 13 PICKS & PREVIEWS

Well, my meeting for the next hour canceled, so what would I rather do than write about football for the next 45 minutes!

Here we go for Week 13...final regular season game for the dome and the Gophers this year.

I did see an interesting note in the CFN preview, that a Gopher W could still actually get them into a Jan 1 Bowl...some other things have to happen, but that would be fun. Let's pull for ILL, OSU, PSU, and the GOPHERS and we might have a shot if we hit all 4.

As I mentioned before - we all picked the MIA-GT game tonight, should be good. I like the GT defense and running game at home. Plus it's rule #1 of the TREE NCAA BETTING RULES (I will have more than 1 rule next year - my off-season goal is to try and take all the guess work and emotion out of this deal and make it easier to pick games...we'll see). Tech is a winner.

I was the only one to jump on WV at LOU. The Cards are terrible, I had to pick this one.

MK and JG both like the Buckeyes this week. I kind of like them too, but it's just too hard for me to pick that big of a line in a rivalry game. I need a separate set of rivalry rules to make this easier!

JR and MR agree again on IND covering at PUR. I think they are playing better, and hopefully Tiller will continue to play Siller...than IND wins outright!

All 3 of you took the TN at VAN game...MK likes the Vols, a fatal mistake I have made way too many times this year. MR and JG took the smaaat kids. I like them too.

JG like CSU at WY. I've been saying it for weeks - the Cowboys are very bad, so it's never a bad play to bet against them.

JR and MR agree again on MISST over ARK. I like them at home - tough to beat.

JG likes ND to cover 3 TD's vs. SYR. Might happen, SYR is that bad.

3 of the 4 of us picked a winner in my favorite game of the week...the heated Apple Cup rivalry between possibly the 2 worst teams in the BCS conferences this year. Buckle up folks, the 0-10 Huskies are at the 1-9 Cougars of WASU. Wow, this should be ugly, but you have to bet against WASU, right? Or not, MR and JG like the Cougars.

MK takes the ILLINI - we need them to win, but I don't trust them a bit.

JG likes WF at home - this one was too tough to call for me.

MK likes Sparty on the road. I think they keep it close with a tight PSU squad.

I took AF to cover 19 at TCU. Line was outrageous...I like the Falcon at as little as +8 or +10.

MR and I agree again on KST over the lowly Clones. JG avoided this game...why? Clones suck.

MK likes BOISE at NEV -6. I like it, but I'm a little scared...BOISE is due for a close one, and NEV is good enough to be that one.

MR likes BYU covering at UTAH. I like the pick - UTAH is ready for a close one too. Tough to play a rivalry game with all they have on the line.

MK likes the Beavers, I like the Cats at home -3. Should be a good one to watch, unfortunately it's the same time as the game of the week.

JG likes the Noles...duh. MK likes thr Turtle at home. I side with Kobs on this one.

JG went against the norm and took TT over OK. MR and MK both like the Sooners. I have to pick the Sooners as well.

MR likes HAW late night over a horrible Idaho team.

Finally, and quite possibly the kiss of death...ALL 4 OF US LIKE THE MAROON AND GOLD THIS WEEK. Yikes, our track record is not good when we all agree. But maybe this isn't like the other games, maybe some of us like it but some of us are picking it out of just pure hatred for the Southerners. Let's hope the karma gods are on our side in this one.

GOPHERS - HOMOS
Wow, last game of the year already. At least we'll have a fun bowl game to look forward to in the future, let's hope it is in January. But first things first - BEAT IOWA.

State of the Hawkeye
Iowa was not impressive last week hosting PUR, and really has not played well on the road all year long. Greene runs the ball, and he runs it well. They can't throw or pass block worth a damn. The defense is pretty solid - like ususal - but they have some deficiencies. They have only allowed into the 20's in 4 of their 11 games. But NW and ILL - 2 similar offense to us - were 2 of those games. They have their eyes set on a Jan 1 bowl as well with a win on Saturday.

State of the Gopher
After 3 losses in a row, this team is in need of a W to get back on track. NW and WIS could have/should have been wins. Not showing up at all in the MICH game is still a mystery, but we'll attribute that one to the Dome. The offesne looked brilliant at times last week...finally. The defense continued to play well, PJ had nice numbers, but basically gained eevrything on a couple of long runs...he was held in check most of the day. Bottom line is the turnovers and mistakes beat us, which can't happen at this point in the season...but that's a young team for you. The running game continues to putz along, and will never really be good in 2008. The passing game has grown, and getting Decker back will not hurt. The defense continues to get consistent pressure and make turnovers happen. A couple bad plays cost us against the Becky, but I think we can prevent those at home.

Who Wins and Why?
I think the Gophers match-up extremely well with the homos. On defense, we can stop the run fairly well, and our pass rush should be enough to make Stanzi look like the brutal QB that he can be. On offense, I'm sure we'll sputter a bit because of our inability to run the ball, but I think we can throw it well enough to score some points. I look for the Gophers to come out with a fire in their belly and start the game the right way. Flying all over the field and making Iowa look slow. I like an early Gopher TD in this one to get 1/2 the dome rocking, and the other half to slam their 33rd and 34th beers of the day. Then, in typical Gopher fashion, I'm sure we'll give up a cheapy before half and go into the 1/2 tied at 7-7. The 2nd half will be a battle on the line of scrimmage. The Gopher defense will likely allow Greene his 100 yards for a 12th straight game, but it might take him 25-30 carries to get there. He will be the #1, #2, and #3 focus for the front 7. I think our D-backs are actually better than their WR's, so we can afford to have the luxary of counting on our front 7 to stop the run. Major grinder in the 2nd half from both sides - I think Brew will realize the run isn't working, but continue to try and punish them with Shady. A Green TD puts the Gophs up in the 2nd half 17-10. Iowa will fight back and keep it very very close, but I'm going to give this one to the Gopher on a...believe it or not...Joel Monroe made FG! GOPHERS WIN TO MOVE TO 8-4 AND SEND THE HOMOS FLEEING BACK TO THE SOUTH...MN 20 IOWA 17.

WHO HATES IOWA!!??!! - don't think this chant will not be started 100 times by yours truly after a Gopher victory at Huberts.

NFL PICKS
MR likes PIT tonight
JR and MK like the VIKES...yikes.
MR of course goes with the JAGS
JR and MR agree on BAL.
JR and MK like CLE
MK likes DAL
MK and JG like the BUCS
JG likes the BILLS
MR and JG likes JETS, I LOVE THE TITANS
JR and JG like the NYG
JG likes WASH
MR likes SD
MK likes N.O.

VIKES-JAGS (aka Williamson vs. Childress Part I)
How bizarre were the TWilly comments this week..."I want to fight him in the middle of the field." Wow, what a tard. He's got a whopping 4 catches this year, you're right TWilly, we were wrong, you actually suck even worse than we thought. But back to the undercard...the Jags aren't good...especially at home. This is one that Vikes fans are labeling as scary, when i think it's going to be a breeze and the purple will roll. VIKES WIN 23-13.

DOME MEMORIES (dream music...drifting off...ahhh)
2007
- beating MIAOH for our first and only win in year #1 of Brewster Ball. We should have lost this game, but their K missed a gimme, so we won in OT....
- losing to NDSU - I am going to guarantee this never happens again in my lifetime

2006
- missing an XP to lose to PSU 28-27...I miss Gianini
- beating NDSU 10-9 on a blocked FG
- The Drew Tate for Heisman campaign rolled in to dome and lost 34-24 to close out one of the most oevrhyped careers in NCAA history

2005
- 42-35 OT win over then #11 PUR...I have never been more excited at a Gopher game in my life
- 34-38 loss to Becky on the infamous blocked punt...I have never been more down at a Gopher game in my entire life

2003
38-35 vs MICH...fuck.
44-38 vs MSU the next week...Fire Mason!
37-34 win over Becky when Rhys kicks the winner.

2000
- first tailgating experience for me vs. Ohio U...hammered and then we lose 23-17
- homecoming...NW hailmary beats us...gay.

1999
- Purdue beats us on homecoming in similar fashion

1998
- 49-7 over IOWA...who hates IOWA!!??

1996
- 2 Tyrone Carter fumble returns for TD beat nationally ranked SYR 35-33...wacker ball!

1994
- went to Penn State's 1st official B10 game...56-3. wow.

1993
- wacker ball at its finest...PUR wins 59-56...no tackles were recorded by either team.

1989
- NEB 48-0, one of the first games I really remeber going to
- Ohiost beats us 41-37, after we were up 31-0 at half...my dad kept pounding the wall behind us as we were sitting in the top row of the lower level. classic dome collapse moment.

We went through 5 coaching tenures in the dome:
Holtz - 2 years
Gutekunst - 6 years
Wacker - 5 years
Mase - 10 years
Brew - 2 years

Sadly, the first 2 and last 2 years seem to have been the best as far as coaches go.

How about the glory years with Mason, let's look at what he did:
4 of his 10 year he went .500 or better in conference, which Brew may do this year.
7 of the 10 years he went to Bowl Games: 3 Music City, 2 Sun, 1 MicronPC, 1 Insight

It's crazy, but most of us have never known anything but the dome for Gopher football, so it's sad to see the end of the MECCA. Well, actually not really. MICH or OHIOST might actually try and move their home games their when the Gophers are supposed to come to town in the coming years. The brutal collapses are too many to count, the great comebacks were few and far between. The only games we could come close to selling out were IOWA and WIS because 1/2 the fans are wearing the wrong color. God, I'm really going to miss it.

Have a great weekend everyone - I'm sure I'll will be in touch with most if not all of you as the booze starts to flow and I get more and more confident in a Gopher Win.

Later.