COLLEGE FOOTBALL – WEEK 11 – 2k18
They said it couldn’t be done! TOB is back and better than ever (or at least as good as ever, eh, probably worse). It’s been a long hiatus full of, well, not really anything. TOB has been intermittently watching College Football which in this climate makes the analysis on this site about as good as anything else. How did these articles ususally go? Oh yeah, pirate a bunch of other people’s content and mix in some witty banter…got it. On to the first segment, “Commercial that is currently making TOB laugh”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NSsnOX0FII
That could lead down a rabbit hole, let’s not get too far into the Danny McBride vortex…
Now for the segment that changes week to week depending on how creative we are feeling! This week, TOB will be telling a story about LOB (TOB’s wife). While watching the recent Thursday night game (Steelers vs Panthers), LOB realized that the Pittsburgh Steelers name was actually a reference to the Steel industry. LOB’s mind was blown. “What is the rust belt? Who is wearing it? I thought they were just like thieves or something, like, the Pittsburgh Bandits.” TOB wishes this was not a true story.
Before we get to the college football, a little bit of housekeeping on baseball. Cardinal’s season finished up the way it should have. Had a little mini run when Mike replaced Mike, but it was bound to come to an end. Had they snuck into the wild card game, it was a reasonable proposition they could have gone on to make the NLCS, but it’s probably for the best that they ended up where they did. The last three seasons of no playoffs have hopefully woken up the front office to spending money. The last two seasons of spending money on the bullpen with no results have hopefully shown them the way to spend that money. The birds have about 10 pitching prospects ready to go, and zero batting prospects. Let’s flip 2-3 of those pitchers for a big bat…maybe more! As good as Flaherty looked, if he gets you Arenado or someone of the ilk, send it. Luke Weaver had a similar season in 2017 and look at the regression. Pitching it too fickle to rely on (remember when Wacha was untouchable…hmmm…do you?), bats are more predictable. Love having Bader in the outfield in any capacity, Ozuna should have a bounce back year (free agent year, take the production and let him walk), O’Niel is a good 4th outfielder and it is possible Fowler just had a year from hell (though it will be best if he just goes away).
For the first time in years, TOB didn’t watch much of the World Series. The ALCS was interesting (the Astros are probably the most fun team to watch these days – great lineup, old school pitching staff), the NLCS was a snoozefest, and the one and done pitching has led TOB to look the other way. If the regular season played out the way the playoffs did, baseball would likely fall to the 4th major sport. Games lasting 4.5 hours is just miserable. Managers like Dave Roberts and Craig Counsell make Tony LaRussa look like he was a “hands off” style coach. TOB is not for leagues meddling with the style of play (let shifts play out, players will adjust, they always do), but the pitching changes are getting out of control. The mound visit limit was a good start, now let’s limit pitching changes (start by allowing only 2 changes per inning, then scale it back as time goes on). Please MLB, TOB may be your last diehard fan clamoring that baseball is still the best sport…but that defense is getting harder than keeping Cosby out of jail.
Now to what has become TOB’s favorite sport by default, College!
The season has played out pretty well as predicted by most pundits, with Alabama and Clemson running away while the PAC12, BIG10, and BIG12 push to prove they all deserve a spot at the table. Michigan has the best shot to firm that spot up by winning out, though Ohio State could still sneak in so long as Michigan stays hot until that game (good to see Urban Meyer back on the sidelines, what a guy). Notre Dame is a surprise undefeated, but that likely will not last (as a lifelong Notre Dame fan, this cannot last, or hopefully it won’t last, we all remember 2012…). UCF will likely not get enough love to move up unless all of the teams above them lose twice (unlikely). Have fun in the Sugar Bowl, raise your fake banner, and join a decent conference you clowns.
Remember when TOB did picks against Cheech, TOB used to dominate (that’s how I remember it anyway), well, we are back!
Cheech’s picks, TOB’s analysis:
Oklahoma State (+21.5) over Oklahoma – OU needs to keep this run going after their hiccup against Texas (for some reason everyone forgot Texas lost to Maryland this year, yeah, that happened, they are not good). Gundy has some competition with his mullet, check out the WVU head coach – shout out!
Washington State (-6.5) over Colorado – WSU has been a bit of a surprise team with the other PAC12 hopefuls falling (Stanford, Washington, Oregon). Wasn’t aware Colorado still had a team.
LSU (-13) over Arkansas – Seems reasonable, LSU is looking to bounce back. Coach Ed seems to be Les Miles light, win about 9 games a year instead of 11, just enough to not get fired, but won’t really ever go anywhere.
Georgia (-13.5) over Auburn – Georgia is good, Kirby Smart can coach, that Florida loss looks very suspicious at this point.
Northwestern (+10) over Iowa – This line seems fishy. Northwestern has played Michigan and ND tough this year. I would expect this to be a one score game at most, could win outright. If you can get +250 on the moneyline take Northwestern.
TOB’s picks, TOB’s analysis:
Ohio State (-3.5) over Michigan State – MSU seems a bit overrated, Ohio State is mad. Urban needs this run so they can sneak into the playoffs and lose by 30 to an SEC team. How much longer until the posse shows up and Urban has to retire to “spend more time with his family.”
Florida (-7) over South Carolina – Florida seems like the Jekyll and Hyde team, they look great one week, terrible the next. Getting trounced by Mizzou continues the “terrible” of that scenario.
West Virginia (-13.5) over TCU – TCU really fell off after the early season hype. WVU has playoff aspirations (if they can win out, including a win over OU they are probably in). Also, can’t beat that skullet!
Texas A&M (-13) over Ole Miss – Ole Miss appears to be pretty bad. Defense non-existent. Jimbo is having a disappointing but still positive first year with A&M. The last two weeks have been rough, but prior to that their only two losses were to Bama and Clemson, no shame there. Shout out to the Battles! TOB scheduled a massage for LOB at 1pm Central time today so she will have no way to catch this beating.
Miami (+2.5) over GA Tech – Georgia Tech can muddy games up and slow it down, but Miami should be able to get back on track after that slop fest last week. Likely Miami wins out and finishes 8-4 with a low level bowl game. How’s that turnover chain going you bunch of dicks?!
Reposting this from last year, still relevant:
Shout out to the Veterans on Veteran’s Day. Both of TOB’s grandfathers served in WWII, though TOB’s paternal grandfather joked that the two things he learned from the war were: 3 card poker and how to open a can of peaches without a can opener. With skills like that, he must have been an integral part of the victory!
GO IRISH!
-Tonyonball
