Author: rgoldsmith2

SMU VS. Tulane – Tulane -3.5 Over 65

Boston College VS. Notre Dame – ND -21.0 Over 43 (BC lost to UCONN they suck)

Navy VS. UCF – UCF -16.0 Over 53

Illinois VS. Michigan – Mich -18 Over 40.5

TCU VS. Baylor – TCU -2.5 Over 58

Austin Peay VS. Alabama – Alabama ML; why are they even allowed to play this game?

Louisiana VS. Florida State – FSU ML; not -24; over 52

Kansas State VS. West Virginia – KSU -7.5 over 54.5

Oregon State VS. Arizona State – OSU -8 over 54

Georgia VS. Kentucky – Kentucky +22.5 Over 49

Ohio State VS. Maryland – OSU -27.5 over 63.5

Miami VS. Clemson – Clemson -19 over 48

Penn State VS. Rutgers – PSU -19 Over 45

NC State VS. Louisville – Lousiville -4 over 45

Cincy VS. Temple – Cincy ML; -17 – Over 51

Ga. Tech VS. UNC – UNC ML; -21 – under 63

Tennessee VS. South Carolina – Tennessee ML; -21.5- Over 66

Ole Miss VS. Arkansas – Ole Miss ML; -2.5 – over 64

Oklahoma State VS. Oklahoma – Oklahoma ML; OSU +7.5; Over 66

USC VS. UCLA – USC ML; -2.5; over 76

UAB VS. LSU – LSU ML; -14.5; under 52.5

Colorado VS. Washington – Colorado +31; Wash ML; over 64

Utah VS. Oregon – Utah ML -2; Over 60

Thank me later

London

I gotta say London was my favorite city I’ve been to by far. Just an all around good time. We got there on a Friday morning into Stansted airport, the guy at the passport scanner was very funny. The scanners all sucked, but every time someone’s got denied he would hit them with a “It’s alright, give it another go, love” sorry my english accent doesn’t sound good here. But after that we took the train into the center of the city, and met with our other friends who had gotten there earlier. 

We walked around for a bit, played “The London” by J. Cole, and met them in a park. The park was a small one but had these massive crows which was kind of creepy to me. After that we found a little pub near the train station, called “The Lord Aberconway” that had been there since 1873. I got fish and chips and as it was every other place I got them in England, they were fucking delicious. After that the groups split up to go back to the places we were staying. I had a friend from school whose friend from home I met a couple times and was in London for the semester. I miraculously met her and her friends at Oktoberfest, and when I said we were going to London the next week one offered me their room because she would be in Paris. So, we got to the place and met up with my friends. After that, me and my two roommates went out to do some sightseeing. First we met up with another one of our friends staying in a hotel, and of course got more fish and chips. The place we went to was amazing, my favorite of the trip. It had been there forever, and even stayed open during the blitz in WW II. Called “The Rock and Sole Plaice”  They gave us a huge piece of fish, had a big selection of different kinds but I always stick to cod. THey also had all of the traditional sides to go with it too. I didn’t have the balls to but my friends tried pickled eggs… they said it wasn’t that bad but I wouldn’t be caught dead having one. We also got fried camembert cheese… fucking delicious, you can really never go wrong with anything fried but fried cheese especially is heaven sent. 

The food was just fucking amazing I’ll leave it at that, also, the mushy peas were good too… never thought i’d be saying I liked mushy peas but here we are. Anyways, after that we went for some sight seeing, i didn’t know what Trafalgar square was but that place was pretty awesome even at night, I really liked the huge spire in the middle with the Lions around it. The lions were awesome, one thing I’ve gotta say about London is that they just had a shit on of lions everywhere… Someone a couple hundred years ago was just like ya know I like it.. But it needs more fucking lions. Hilarious to me. 

So we went there then to the Big Ben area… He was a lot smaller than I thought, honestly quite disappointing but hey a big clock is a big clock who am I to complain. We took a shit ton of pictures there and they came out great I won’t lie. After that we met up with our friends once again then milled around looking for something to do. 

We were all there togo to the Giants game on Sunday, the whole fucking city was crawling with Packers fans, cheeseheads on every street you turned onto. So we tried to go to the Giants designated bar, near Trafalgar Square. The place was pretty open, not packed at all and it was only like 10:30 and they wouldn’t let us in, assholes. 

So we went to this other pub right across the street, also pretty dead. I had told my friend Emily, the one who got me the room, earlier we probably wouldn’t be going to the club she was at but we went anyways. The only thing was she was already there and obviously as it goes, wasn’t on her phone, so when we got into this place I went looking around aimlessly before I miraculously found her. Pretty impressive honestly and basically the same way I ran into her when I was at Oktoberfest. 

Anyways, the place we went to was called Tiger Tiger, a pretty big club with like three floors. The music was really good to be honest, lots of rap which I haven’t seen much in Europe. Only thing was it was 20 Euro to get in and then we found out it was like 16 euros for a drink if I remember correctly. Luckily for us, my friends had bracelets for students that made every drink and shot like 4 euro each. So after that we really got going and it became a lot more fun. 

The basement of the place had a huge dance floor that was playing more hispanic type music which we took the fuck over and was really fun. Well I didn’t really but the others did that’s for sure. 

Overall it was a great club, really fun time and one of the best I’ve been to in Europe so far. 

After that we split from the group. It was me, my roommate and the two girls we were staying with. We went to this 24 hour spot that was pretty good, called It was a few floors so it was funny seeing all the drunk people try and navigate the stairs. I’ve gotta say one of the things I liked the most about London, or missed from New York was thefact that stuff stayed open late. If there’s one thing they really need to figure out in Rome it’s to keep places open later, they need more 24 hour spots.

After that we made it back to the dorm type place we were staying and knocked out. The next day I got up at about 11 and met back with my friend at Trafalgar Square. I got a really good pastry, it was basically just strawberry cheesecake with a layer of chocolate over the cheesecake, so fucking good. And a Cinnamon pinwheel thing which also slapped. 

After that we went to Buckingham Palace, pretty beautiful but not as cool knowing I sort of missed out on the Queen. I had seen the changing of the guard there a few years before and that was really cool, if you have the chance you should try to see that because it’s a whole production and you get to see the guys with the furry hats march around and act like they’re really important. Little fun fact I didn’t know before, their hats are actually made out of bear skin from black bears in Canada, thought that was pretty cool. 

Then we made a tour for the Winston Churchill bunker, went to Borough Market, a huge outdoor market with tons of great food. My friend told me about another great fish and chips place there, this one called FISH! It had a long ass line but moved fast, they were pushing out massive amounts of fish, I almost felt bad. The whole halves of these fish being given out, it made me wonder just how many they really killed… there was a lot of fucking fish. And the pieces were probably 6-8 inches each… massive. That was a good fish and chips spot but still didn’t beat the place from the night before. After eating so much fried food in such little time I started feeling my arteries clogging. 

Once we ate, we went for a walk to try and work off the fish and chips, no we actually were going to see tower bridge, a really nice walk to be honest along the river. Something cool that I saw was that they actually have these big Uber sponsored boats, wish I could have taken one but it wasn’t for a little while and we had a tour to make. I Hadn’t been close toTower Bridge but it really was very pretty, I was impressed. Probably my favorite landmark in London. 

After that, we went to the Churchill war rooms which was really crazy. It’s pretty mind boggling knowing that’s really where they ran the whole war, seeing the places they all slept, where they readjusted the structure of the building in case of a bombing. And Churchill never even slept there… pretty funny to me. He seems like a guy I would really have liked to meet or at least here when he was in his prime, a true world leader that didn’t take shit from anyone. And a peculiar guy, seems like he would’ve been fun to grab a pint or two with. Oh and smoke a huge cigar. If there’s one thing I think you really should do it would have to be that,everything untouched from the last days they were there, all left the same as before, and you could also spend hours in the churchill section alone, he lived a really interesting life. 

After that we went to meet our friends and get tea which actually just turned into a shitshow… so we ended up just wandering around Piccadilly Circus, it’s basically the Times Square of London. So, we walked around and stumbled upon what had to be CHinatown, there was a huge Chinese looking arch, and we figured we’d go check it out. Little did we know right next to the arch was a Fogo de Chao… not the most English food in the world, but after walking around all day and being high for the first time in months, ripping a weed cartridge one of my friends got from a sketchy Pakistani man in a smoke shop… the decision basically made itself. And let me tell you that shit was fucking amazing, not as good as the one in NEw York but it’s pretty hard to have bad Brazilian steak, and when it’s unlimited well I don’t think there;s anyway you could go wrong. They didn’t have as many good cuts of steak and kept bringing around my English things like Ham and sausage which I didn’t have any of but I got my money’s worth when the steak came around. 

After that the rest of the group was pretty tired and someone had the genius idea to go to the M and M store… I wasn’t thinking and didn’t realize they’d be charging M and M store prices… I blacked out at the Blue and Yellow M and M machines, they all just came out so fast. So when I got to the register I didn’t realize how bad i was about to get boned. It was pretty bad. Dinner at Fogo de Chao… a high class steak restaurant came to 32 Euro… I racked up 28 Euro at the fucking M and M store. I know I said I saw the Tower Bridge earlier in the day but after that I wanted to jump off the fucking thing. 

So… after that the rest of the group decided to go back to their Air BNB which was kind of far away and it left just four of us. We wanted to keep wandering around a little bit and maybe find a nice pub. Instead we ran into a casino… Empire Casino, but not the one with trotter horses in Yonkers. So we figured we’d give it a try, I for sure was going in to at least try and make back the money that the M and M store took from me at gunpoint. 

So we go in, only one kid had cash, he gave us 80 Euro each… no clue why but we decide to try our luck at roulette first, and of course one of the kids I’m with hits on the first fucking round. He only out 5 euro down so it only came put to 175, but still… pretty fucking impressive, so I played 3 more times, lost 20 euro and on the second to last, whaddaya know, the kid fucking hit again. I was pissed the fuck off to say the least… I don’t know much about gambking but for you to hit twice in roulette, just putting it down on random numbers is absurdly fucking lucky. So I left those two idiots to keep trying their luck there and went to find the blackjack tables. 

I spent about 15 minutes just watching even though my intention was always to play. I’m pretty sure they thought I as trying to count cards so I walked away after a few minutes to check on the roulette idiots. They hadn’t won again believe or not. So i went back to the table and found the balls to sit down. It was 25 Euro a hand so i sat down with my 60 euro not expecting to be there very long. Thank God I was at least a little high because If i wasn’t I don’t think I would’ve been able to relax enough to stay so long. I probably would’ve left after being up 50 euros. But, I followed the number one rule when it comes to gambling and din’t count my chips at the table, but I’m pretty sure that rule only applies to poker, not blackjack. Anyways,I put it to the test with blackjack and the next thing I knew my pile of 2 25 euro coins went to a pile of 200 euros. My friends had finally given up on blackjack and came over to watch the real show… me. 

So what the fuck did I do? Kept winning of course.  It comes naturally to me. But when I kept winning they of course didn’t know how to handle it so I told them toget the fuck away from me before they ruined my mojo. I don’t know where they went but I was able to keep making my pile of chips bigger. So for a while it was me, an indian guy from London who kept acting like the game was rigged every time I won a hand (he had been there awhile,since the time I was just watching and pretty sure he thought I was counting cards) and my friend who, (this was the first time we went to the casino, but after this we went to a few different) I found out soon after had a bit of a gambling problem. But in a funny way though. I mean funny to me, I kept winning and he kept losing. But boy was he close. 

So, my pile gets a bit bigger, about 400 euro and the kid who I’m staying with is really tired…blah blah blah let me keep gambling and bringing home the fucking bacon. He tells me i’ve got about a half hour left before he takes the key and goes home… let me tell you something that key was fucking mine and he’d have to drag it out of my cold dead hands before I left that table the way I was playing that night. But whatever, I told him yeah fine and played for a little longer, ended up getting to 460 euro in total and couldn’t put up with his bitching anymore before I ended up calling it a night. I had convinced myself that i had avenged my M and M store robbery enough and that I had enough to get a boatload of shit in the Chelsea store the next day since I had booked a tour of Stamford Bridge, their stadium. 

So… after having one of the best cases of beginner’s luck that i had ever seen or heard of, we decided tohead back to our place and get a good night’s rest, the pubs were calling my name but I had a tour of the stadium in the morning and after that had to head from South London (Chelsea) to North for the NFL game, Giants VS. Packers, in Tottenham. 

The tour of Stamford Bridge was amazing, I had been to a few stadiums in Europe before that but that was the first time I had been in one empty, and it was also the smallest one I had been in. Nevertheless, I loved it. I am a chelsea fan, but that place has some real character to it. I loved the way the endsof the stadium hang over the sections, it’s a bit beat up but still in great shape, you could just imagine the generations and generations of fans filtering in and out of the seats week after week. After seeing it so many times in FIFA and on TV it was really kind of magical. Just knowing the history of Chelsea and all the club has gone through, all the players that had played on that field, and being so close was mesmerizing. The tour itself was awesome as well. 

They started us off with a great view of the field, then walked us alongside the pitch up into press room. We were able to sit where all the reporters sit, and if you know anything about Chelsea you know they’re ruthless, especially when it comes to managers, so being bale to sit and the actual table where so many coaches and players had signed was awesome as well. 

After that they took you into the away and then home dressing rooms, being able to take seats in front of the lockers of whatever player you wanted. Then, the coolest part to me, they led us into the hallway,the same one the players leave to get to the field and played the same song Chelsea have walked out to for years. It really felt like I was in a legitimate video game. After that, they took us around the stadium again to get a better view, from one of the far ends. It really was just a beautiful stadium, and with all the history and visible wear and tear, it just reminded me exactly of the Old yankee Stadium and everything that came with that too, the generations and generations of fathers and sons going to games week in and week out is something you can just feels sometimes when stepping into these places. A true cathedral of the sports world. 

After that, I blew some of my blackjack winnings in the team store, and hightailed it across the city to make it to the NFL game in Tottenham. That was a real whirlwind going from the older Stamford Bridge right into the brand new Tottenham stadium, which, I must say was pretty magnificent itself, and the whole production leading into the game was really impressive itself. I was skeptical if anyone would really be there or know what was going on, and how the NFL would cater to those who didn’t know American football, but in the end it wsa all really smooth. 

I wsa pretty surprised by how many Packers fans made it to London, there were seas of cheeseheads everywhere you looked, especially playing against a New York team, I thought the Giants would be a little better represented, although I guess htis was before they were good again. Anyways,the intro to the game was great, they did a lot of marketing for the game in the UK, with lots of interviews from former NFL players, explaining efforts to explain the game and giving background on how American football was played the overall rules and what not. For an American kind of unnecessary but still pretty interesting to see how they got the show going. Then, the American National Anthem was, well as good as you could imagine it in Englasnd, but God Save the King was  honestly really electric. Then followed by fireworks and colored smoke, it was a great way to get the whole crowd going. 

The game itself was great too. The Giants played out of their mind, better than anyone I think thought they could, and, in basically a Packers home game it was great to be an asshole New York fan and shownot just Packers fans but the people of England how people root for New York teams. I wasn’t the only one, there were other Giants fnas in the section but people didn’t appreciate us going across entire rows to high five. Also, Packers fans around me and my friend didn’t take too kindly to make yelling “Aaron Rodgers is a family man!” I only had the balls to say it once because of the dirty looks I got. That was early in the game though. The rest was really great though, the Gianst played great, it was really surprising. After the game, we had to battle giant masses to one single tube station, but after that we got back to the place we were staying, and I decided it was only fair to treat the girl who kindly let me stay in her room to a meal with a few more of my blackjack winnings. I couldn’t bare to harden my arteries with anymore fish and chips, and if i had another meal of Italian food I’d probably throw up so we decided on another London staple, Indian food, something neither of us had tried. Let me tell you, that is some underrated stuff right there. I couldn’t really tell you what I got but it was amazing. Butter chicken, Chicken tikka masala, and some type of spicy chicken, it was all so good. And, maybe the best part, the guy surprised us with it being BYOB. Excellent. And there was a store he pointed out for us right around the corner. The perfect way to end my trip to London.

All in all I like London a lot, my second favorite city in the world after New York and the best I ahd been to since I’ve been in Europe. I suggest it to everyone, and I might even have to go back there permanently one day. 

Alright last week was a bit humbling but I’m back and better than ever so here we go.

Eagles VS. Texans – Eagles -13.5

Chargers VS. Falcons – Chargers -3.0

Dolphins VS. Bears – Dolphins -5.0

Panthers VS. Bengals – Bengals -7.0

Packers VS. Lions – Packers -3.5

Colts VS. Patriots – Colts +5.5

Bills VS. Jets – Bills -12.5

Vikings VS. Commanders – Vikings -3.5

Raiders VS. Jags – Raiders -1.5

Seahawks VS. Cardinals – Seahawks +2.0

Rams VS. Buccaneers – Rams +3.0

Titans VS. Chiefs – Chiefs -12.5

Ravenes VS. Saints – Ravens -2.5

Thank me later.

Alright well my NFL picks gave way too much confidence, but some of these games I don’t think anyone saw coming. Anyways… this is a redemption week for me. Buckle up as I pick the spreads for every top 25 game and make you millions. It’s mostly chalk this week unfortunately but thank melter anyways.

Oregon State VS. Washington – Washington -3.5

Ohio State VS. Northwestern – OSU -38.0 (yikes)

Texas Tech VS. TCU – TCU -9.5

UNC VS. Virginia – UNC -7.5

Tulane VS. Tulsa – Tulane -7.5

Tennessee VS. Georgia – Georgia -8.0 (I trust the dawgs especially at home)

Oregon VS. Colorado – Oregon -31.5

Penn State VS. Indiana – Penn State -14.0

Michigan State VS. Illinois – Michigan State +16.0 (Mich State literally mugged a kid last week they’ve got some pent up aggression)

Oklahoma State VS. Kansas – OK State -2 (you just wish Kansas’ QB didn’t get hurt)

Syracuse VS. Pitt – Pitt -3.5 (I will never bet for Syracuse)

UCF VS. Memphis – UCF -3.5 (They have national championship, and just beat cincy)

Clemson VS. Notre Dame – ND -3.5 (Go Irish)(they’ll probably get blown out though)

Alabama VS. LSU – Bama -13.5 (Fuck Brian Kelly)

Texas VS. Kansas State – Texas -2.5 (Kansas State can’t be good right?)

Michigan VS. Rutgers – Michigan -26.0 (I mean is this even a question)

Arizona VS. Utah – Utah -17.5 (Arizona football will never be good)

Wake Forest VS. NC State – Wake Forest -4.5 (I guess I’ll ride with Sam Hartman

UCLA VS. Arizona State – UCLA -10.5 (pretty sure ASU football is in shambles currently)

CAL VS. USC – USC -21.5 (we all saw the video of marshaon talking about the crowd at the CAL game, enough said)

Well, I’m not gonna lie… they did it again. They made me fucking believe. Does it looka lot different from years past? Absolutely not. If anything a bit worse. We don’t have the league’s leading scorer this year, and in my opinion… I’ll stand by it, the best shooter in the league. BUT! I must say the roster is looking so promising, and if we can stay healthy, we might have a shot. 

The fact of the matter is we have the best defending guard in the country in Posh… someone argue that with me I dare you. He’s the best defender in the country. Then we have another top 5 defending guard coming in form Illinois… Andre Curbelo took a step back last year there’s no questioning that but the kid was concussed and hurt for most of the year, I think those are some tough conditions to play under, not to mention there’s a lot more competition for finding minutes at a powerhouse like Illinois.  So, the kid’s healthy, not in a tough competition for minutes, lets give him another chance. If anyone remembers this kid was tearing it up with Ayo Dosunmo the year before and was a huge help in their run in the tournament. If you don’t think this kid is gonna flourish under Anderson’s system you’re mistaken. The energy this team is gonna have is damn well unbeatable in my opinion.

Apart from this, they’ve got chemistry out the ass. Curbelo, Pinzon, and Drissa all went to high school together, how much better does it get than that? We’ve got quite a few spanish speakers on the team in those three, Soriano, and another new transfer David Jones. 

Another great thing about this squad is that they’re so young. A lot of juniors, that have been playing together for a few years now at least, there’s still a lot of time for these guys to gel. It’s a pretty young team which might be a bit of a concern but they’ve been around the league before and have been getting minutes for a while, it’s not like they’re rookies, these guys have some serious minutes under their belts. 

The real thing that I think is gonna be the strong part for this team is our depth. WE’re a little bare at the center position once again in terms of size, Soriano is our biggest body at 6’11 260 LBs, I think with a year of experience in the Big East under his belt, he’s hopefully made some leaps. I just want more rebounds form the kid, honestly, learn how to box out. He’s not the biggest, he blocks some shots, not a ton and isn’t the best defender but if we can get him to be a board machine, that’s all I need.  As for Omar Stanley, I think this kid has a ton of potential, I thought he should’ve gotten a lot more minutes last year. Thekid plays with so much hear and effort, I can’t wait to see what else he’s got left. I think he’s gonna make a huge jump this year. Same with Esiah NYiwe, I thought he was arguably the bst big last year, so hopefully he put a little more weight on and is set to make even more of an impact this year. The key for me with Nyiwe and Soriano is really getting boards. Their defense isn’t terrible, could be worse, but there’s only so much they can do when they’re going against these giants down low going against their lighter frames. But, the other guy I’m really excited for is the freshman Mohamed Keita, from Guinea. This kid has looked really good in preseason so far and seems like a true shot blocker, exactly what we need, he is crazy skinny but from what I’ve heard so far he’s a lot more talented than anyone thought, I guess they found him on the NBA africa circuit… go figure. 

So, I think with the bigs we’ve got right now… Soriano, Stanley, Keita, Nyiwe, and Keita that’s a good start. The one I also didn’t mention is Drissa Traore… I feel like after his red shirt year he’s kind of flown under the radar but he was pretty highly recruited out of high school, had offers from Illinois, Umass, and others… He also looks like and has said he put on a lot of muscle over the summer… He’s another guy who could really add some nice depth to the team, 6’8 and some speed, who knows his ceiling… I won’t lie, I don’t know much about the kid’s game but I’m excited to see it, hopefully he can give us quality defense at the minimum. 

The other thing impressive about this team is that we really aren’t that small… Posh and Curbelo aren’t the biggest guys on the planet but to me their size really doesn’t matter, they’re going to get the job done and size certainly hasn’t stopped Posh by any means yet this year. With those two the real thing we need to see them improve is their 3 point shooting, if Posh can find even some consistency from outside… it’s gonna be rough for anyone trying to guard that kid. He already finishes at the rim just as good as anyone so say a prayer if he figures it out behind the arc. 

The other options that I think are going to be our real shooters are Pinzon who really did show that he could shoot at a good clip last year, just watching you could tell he had a nice shot, it’s just too bad the kid kept getting hurt, and it’s tough to shoot when you’ve got a hand injury…duh. So, Pinzon, alongside two of his high school teammates, should be in line for a good sophomore season, should he be able to stay healthy. 

The other one who is going to be a key part is AJ Storr, a big time recruit. I think he should be able to help right away,  obviously I think it will take him a  bit of time to adjust to Mike Anderson’s system but I think if you commit to St. Jon’s you’ve got to know what you’re getting yourself into. But regardless I think this kid is a big time player, ready to shine  in the Garden. There’s not a ton of highlights of him out there but from what I’ve seen, the things I could tell are.. He’s a great athlete, can be great on defense if he puts the effort in, has hops, can get up for a lob, has a good shot, something we need plenty of, and can finish at the rim. He’s just what we need, an athletic guy we can dump it off to when we need a bucket… I might be a little too confident but getting a recruit like this, with this style of play isn’t something I’ve seen a ton of at St. John’s… I think if this kid can slowly get adjusted, not have too much pressure put on him at first, he can really excel and he;p the team a ton down the stretch, it’s just a matter of us not relying on him too much in the beginning, letting the experienced players give him good opportunities  and not forcing too much on him. 

Apart from the newcomers, and guys we haven’t seen much of, the returners I haven’t covered yet are Dylan Addae Wusu and Montez Mathis, both are so athletic and great forces on defense I can’t wait to see how much they’ve improved over one offseason. They showed a lot of potential last year, but just needed to figure out how to shoot more consistently, as is the case with a few of the guys on this team, if they could just knock down the gimmes, the easy jumpers, they would be so lethal. Sounds a lot easier than it actually is, but you’ve gotta think about the potential. All of the kids on this team, with Anderson at the helm, are gonna know how to play elite defense. It’s just really once again a matter of the offense and the ability to get easy buckets, if we  cut down on the missed layups, from everyone on the team, the depth will take care of itself and the team will be primed for success. 

As it seems like we’ve said for a few seasons in a row… If the Johnnies can figure out rebounds and taking advantage of the easy opportunities, and can figure out how to knock down a decent amount of 3’s from more than one or two guys, a team with this much depth is destined for success. If we can filter in the new guys well enough and our shooters actually shoot, I think we’ve got a great shot at finally making it into March.

I mean what the actual fuck. Where do I fucking start. What is the point of making any fucking moves in the offseason if we’re just gonna get our asses handed to us by the fucking Astros every year.

This team seriously has no fucking back bone. No pinstripes earned in the least. Cole, maybe, Bader, maybe but they both did their best to get them taken away that’s for damn sure.

Cole pitched his balls off for most of the postseason, lost it a bit in the last game there but if Bader just lets Judge catch the fucking ball we get out of that inning, and of course the short porch comes back to bite us in the ass. We’re a fucking joke at this point lets face it.

Bader was really the only bright spot in the lineup for the whole postseason in my opinion. I love the guy, amazing defense but I’m not expecting him to hit more than 12 homers next year, the only thing is this team had no fucking chemistry going into the postseason and I’m gonna have to blame it all on Boone.

Say what you want about him being able to keep the players sane with the fans and media… Okay you’re right, but it’s fucking New York, that’s how it is. Stop babying these guys. if they’re batting .200 don’t act like that’s a good thing say they have to step the fuck up and play like a god damn major leaguer.

Apart from that, could this idiot mismanage games more? It’s a tie game in the ALCS why the fuck is Clarke Schmidt coming in? Stop planning out the bullpen so fucking much and put in someone who is going to get fucking outs, it’s the playoffs. Stop worrying about fucking injuries, you shouldn’t be. No one should be not even the players. Blow their fucking arms out and get us a fucking championship.

Also, I think it needs to be addressed that the whole configuration of the roster was pretty shit. No team is going to win fucking games if you don’t have a consistent shortstop. Tell me another World Series winner that has played 3 different guys at shortstop in a series. At least we din’t have to see IKF make anymore errors but I mean c’mon it’s an embarrassing look testing out rookies in the playoffs. Also, I get he was red hot ll season but why the fuck did Matt Carpenter get so many at bats when all he did was strike out constantly. Un-fucking-believable honestly.

I think this team really missed DJ a lot this postseason, the guy who usually starts a rally… What they really need to look into this offseason is guys who put the ball in play, enough with the homer hitters… it doesn’t win you close games. The home runs are nice, they put asses in seats, but when you get a good team with a loaded pitching staff… Houston… and even Cleveland, they pushed us to the brink, I’ll give them credit, they get mowed the fuck down. Josh Donaldson was a deer in the headlights for most of the postseason.

Resign Judge, we still have Stanton, Rizzo is a good hitter, he has good at bats, but really after that, I think that’s enough of the power hitters. They’re useless if you don’t have guys that get on base because then they won’t see a single decent pitch in the at bat.

Also, what is the point of having the best hitter in baseball if you’re going to bat him first or second every game… sink him down in the lineup, 3rd or 4th and let him have a stab at batting with some guys on base. Throw away the analytics for a second and remember that it’s still baseball. It’s a game of finesse, there’s no rhyme or reason to most of the things that happen in it, you can’t try to win it being robotic which is exactly what I think Boone was doing. You have to ride the hot hands. Put in Loaisiga and Holmes in the key situations, they are your best arms. Same goes for taking Cole out in Game 3. You don’t pay him over 300 million to take him out with the bases loaded in the 6th. I mean have some faith. He’s at 95 pitches… He’s going to get plenty of rest if you get fucking eliminated, and look where we are.

As for Judge in the postseason, I mean he obviously got cold, but that’s why I think it would’ve been important to move him down in the lineup, give him more pitches to see, maybe let them get a runner on for him so the other team can’t just pitch around him once our leadoff hitter, which changed about every game, strikes out in a 4 pitch at bat.

It sucks to see the Yankees make the same shitty decisions against the same team year in and year out, and I think it’s really time they change the demeanor of the clubhouse. Someone with an iron fist. I think every Yankee fan just wants Joe Torre back. As for Cashman, I’ve gotta say he does put together a good roster, one that if you’re Yankees management you have to like. Star players, 99 win seasons, it’s tough to be upset at, but at the ned of the day, you’re the New York Yankees. It might not be the 90s anymore but the reason you’re the most famous sports team in the world is because you win championships. Any season without one is a bust, and that’s what your fanbase has been built on. If you ask me, go get the best contact hitter on the market this offseason, resign Judge, then reload the bullpen, whether it’s trades or not, get guys who throw fire balls. Enough messing with Chapmans who’s gone finally, and Brittons of the world. They’re failed experiments, injury prone. And get one maybe two more elite starting pitchers. You have Cole, Nestor, and Sevy, but after that you need to upgrade. The pieces are there and you can hypothetically wait for the young kids who are very promising in the farm to come up but now your brand is at stake. You’ve become a mockery. Your manager and “mental skills coach” are showing videos to motivate your players of the most disgraceful time in your franchise’s history to try and rally them. And not only this, they’re so blind to the fact they’re actually telling the media this themselves.

Change needs to come soon, or else the fans which players are seemingly coming more and more afraid of will only get worse. Get guys who are proven contact hitter, one maybe two more proven, elite starters, and two guys you know are going to close the door when there’s runners on in the 7th, 8th and 9th… Oh yeah and guys WHO WANNA PLAY FOR THE NEW YORK FUCKING YANKEES.

I just gotta say this weeks games are kinda wack so if my picks turn out good keep riding because it means I’m really good at this shit.

Denver VS. Jacksonville – Jacksonville ML

Panthers VS. Falcons – Falcons ML

Bears VS. Cowboys – Cowboys ML

Dolphins VS. Lions – Dolphins ML

Cardinals VS. Vikings – Vikings ML

Raiders VS. Saints ML – Saints ML

Patriots VS. Jets – Jets ML (never thought I’d say that)

Steelers VS. Eagles – Eagles ML

Titans VS. Texans – Titans ML

Commanders VS. Colts – Colts ML

49ers VS. Rams – Rams ML

Giants VS. Seahawks – Giants ML

Packers VS. Bills – Bills ML

Bengals VS. Browns – Bengals ML

Thank me later

To be honest I haven’t paid close attention to college football this year but don’t let that steer you away from the fact that I am still a college football parlay WIZARD. I cook up fat parlays when I’m in the U.S. and well they occasionally hit. The beauty of a $5 10 team parlay… the best part of gambling.

Ohio State VS. Penn State – Ohio State ML

TCU VS. West Virgnia – TCU ML

Notre Dame VS. Syracuse – Notre Dame ML

Arkansas VS. Auburn – Auburn ML

Oklahoma VS. Iowa State – Iowa State ML

Boston College vs. UCONN – BC ML

Georgia Tech VS. Florida State – Florida State ML

Miami VS. Virginia – Virginia ML (Fuck Miami)

Florida Vs. Georgia – Georgia ML

Oregon VS. CAL – Oregon ML

Oklahoma State VS. Kansas State – Oklahoma State ML

Wake Forest VS. L0uisville – Wake Forest (Wake Forest is good?)

Illinois VS. Nebraska – Illinois ML

Cincinatti VS. UCF – Cincy ML

Northwestern VS. Iowa – Iowa ML

Missouri VS. South Carolina – South Carolina ML

Kentucky VS. Tennessee – Tennessee ML

USC VS. Arizona – USC ML

Michigan State VS. Michigan – Michigan ML

Ole Miss VS. Texas A&M – Ole Miss ML

Baylor VS. Texas Tech – Texas Tech ML

Pitt vs. UNC – Pitt ML

Stanford VS. UCLA – UCLA ML

Thank me later

This is my first time posting these but I figured why the hell not. No one’s gonna look but if you do go ahead I’ll give you some winners.

Giants-Jaguars; Giants ML

Falcons-Bengals; Bengals ML

Lions-Cowboys; Cowboys ML

Colts-Titans; Titans ML

Packers-Commanders; Packers ML

Buccaneers-Panthers; Bucs ML

Browns-Ravens; Ravens ML

Jets-Broncos; Jets ML

Texans-Raiders; Raiders ML

Seahawks-Chargers; Chargers ML

Chiefs-49ers; Chiefs ML

Oktoberfest

I won’t lie, Oktoberfest was the time of my life. Apart from having to camp and two 12 hour bus rides … It was well worth it. 

I don’t think I’ll ever be in an atmosphere like that again in my entire life. Just basically tens of thousands of people getting together with one common interest… getting hammered… let’s all drink out of these big ass glasses, call them steins, and sing. Oh and let’s dress up in old fashioned German outfits. Honestly, someone tell me a better idea. That’s just fucking hilarious. Pure Comedy. Probably the best conditions to get drunk under. Everyone looks ridiculous, there’s a band above everyone playing absolute bangers all day, that everyone gets behind, you can get up on tables and chug… and when you do everyone celebrates… and why? Because you’re all getting drunk. Excellent. Oh and to go hand in hand… each beer hall sells German food, but in all honesty whatever you get is perfect to get you to keep drinking. I think the whole reasoning behind all the things they sell there is just for the purpose of soaking up alcohol. 

The first bus ride wasn’t terrible, we left at around 8:00 from Rome, was able to take some melatonin and another sleeping pill thing which helped, but that was before my other medicating. We stopped at a rest stop about 2 hours into the trip and me and two of my other friends made the responsible choice to do none other than buy a bottle of chianti each. After drinking that fairly quickly, it made the movie they were playing a whole lot better. I hadn’t seen Madagascar in years but holy shit I had no idea how funny it was. That might be the chianti still talking. Also the references to New york are all so accurate it made me miss the city immensely. Too bad they don’t actually have any good animals at the Central Park Zoo. 

Anyways, after the drinking it made the ride go much quicker, I woke up pretty close to Munich in the morning and was able to enjoy a nice ride through the German countryside. Pretty cool but all I could think of was wow this is where the Inglorious Basterds was supposed to take place. 

Anyways, after driving through Munich, we reached our campsite. I can’t say I saw a ton of Munich, I was more focused on guzzling beers, but from what I saw I did like it. The few monuments and what seemed like government buildings were really nice. Germany overall was a really nice place, with lots of newer architecture, and really clean, but in general the people really didn’t fuck with Americans, treated us like fucking idiots which is, well, not ideal. 

The first day once we got off the bus we all needed to sleep for a bit which is just what we did, then got on a bus to the center of the city to get lederhosens. My plan all along was to get one but in the end I couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger and spend the $100 for something I’d really only wear once, plus I already have to pack the one my cousin gave me that i found it didn’t fit right before I left so i wasn’t sure I’d have the space for it. 

Anyways, once the lederhosens had been bought, we decided to go into Oktoberfest and get the festivities started. Of course after we had the first of what was many bratwursts, my first ever. I gotta say it was fucking delicious, gives every italian sausgae a run for its money and blows basically any hotdog out of the water. So, after that deliciousness, we made it inside one of the beer halls, the Hofbrauhaus which is known to be the best one, one of the most historic. My parents that Hitler actually held one of his most famous speeches there back in the day, so kind of fucked up but still pretty impressive if you ask me. Anyways, we didn’t really know how it worked and just wanted a beer, little did we know you had to be sitting to order and it was cash only. So me, not having any cash, got boned pretty hard by the ATM withdrawal fees there. Oh well. Once we finally got our steins, everything obviously got better, the beer was pretty good, I must say after going on a bit of a hiatus from stews and basically just drinking wine and mixed drinks in Italy it was a nice change of pace, not to mention they say the german beer companies make the beer stronger for Oktoberfest, something i was really able to get behind. Not sure if they really did or it was just basically chugging the four per stein that made me arrive abruptly at a very strong buzz, but the next few steins went down a lot easier, I’ll say that. 

To our surprise, the lovely beer maidens? I guess that’s what they call them, the ladies who miraculously can carry like 8 steins at once, came around offering us this stuff they called “sugar” it literally looked exactly like cocaine, apparently it was cocaine and mint and when you snort it it wakes you up, gets you a bit sober. So yeah we decided to buy a little of that and it helped us out a bit to say the least. Based off how much I liked it, I’m even more afraid to try the real stuff. But, I’ve gotta say the sugar helped us focus better on achieving the task at hand (to get fucking hammered)

So, we kept at it, having a few more steins, until it was time for us to go to the Bayern Munich game that night which we had tickets to. The only thing was the rest of our group had gone back to the campsite leaving four of us, one of which had had a bit too many steins. It felt only right to carry someone out of Oktoberfest… It really did feel right. One of the kids had to go to the front desk to pick up a bag he had checked so we got separated from him too, and me also having quite a few times was not being the most helpful when it came time for him to find us. He asked where we were and I actually sent him a picture of my friend passed out on the stairs and said here. Not the most helpful. Anyways, we called an Uber and the driver, seeing my friend was in rough shape, made the smart decision to get some towels from his trunk. The only thing is my friend didn’t realize the reason he opened the trunk was to put the towels down for him in the actual car. So yeah the kid jumped in the fucking trunk. Then, the driver pleading with my friend said “please be good boy” and me, being drunk, throught that was the funniest thing in the goddamn world. I truly forget most of the ride home from there on because I’m pretty sure I fell asleep but I remember clearly when getting out the driver threatening to call the cops unless we forked over 200 euros which we unfortunately did. 

It was a quick turnaround after that to the Bayern Munich game which was really fucking cool. I was talking to the guy next to me who was from Greece but moved to Germany and became a Bayern fan. My only previous pro soccer game was AS Roma, and he was telling me how the atmospheres were going to be a lot different. Roma fans will cheer all game and it’s more of a pary. But Allianz arena, where Bayern plays, he called the “Theater” because the fans don’t really cheer during the game, they’re more focused on watching what’s going on. He really was right. The fans were very reserved for the most part, even when the game became a blowout. Every fan was locked into every pass, giving proper applause when they cleared possession from their end. But did they celebrate like crazy when the team scored? Hell yes. As soon as a goal was scored, everyone on their feet, screaming, and going even crazier when the Polka music came over the speakers. A really electric atmosphere that I wasn’t used to. Being from New York and having my other soccer experience be at the Roma game, I was used to cheering the whole game, celebrating heavily on the little wins, but not at Bayern. Even standing up during play I could feel some dirty looks come onto me. Nonetheless, had I been in the ultra section behind the goal I’m sure it would have been different. Those fans were really going crazy all game as is with most teams, waving flags, etc. i got a really good video of each of the entire rows jumping all together towards the end of the game. All in all, I’ve got to say the game was a great experience. They play a great brand of football too, every pass so exact with some sort of meaning behind it, trying to create as much as possible. Also, Alphonso Davies is one fast motherfucker, and the same goes for Sadio Mane. Those two have some ridiculous talent. And so does Robert Muller, although the people around me say he doesn’t want the ball enough and would rather the other players do the work for him. But I see why he’s been known to be such a quality player for so many years. It was really just crazy to see so many players whose names I’ve heard and have played against on FIFA for years in person doing their thing.

The way home from the game was another adventure. Me, not knowing how to read fucking German and thinking every word in the language looks exactly the same, went to ask tone of the workers in the train station for help with directions, only for my friends to get on the train that was leaving the station as I came down the stairs, so that wasn’t perfect. Then, as I got off the train and went to the bus, I called one of my friends to see where they were compared to me. He said he had actually gotten separated and was about to get on the same bus, with a stop named campingplatz, the same as our campsite… or so we thought. 

So, as we get off the bus at the campsite stop we look at snapmaps and realize we were on the other side of the city from our friends at a different campsite. So that was an unexpected $100 Uber that had to be done, but hey, guess that’s just the way it goes. 

The next day, we tried to get an early start, but not the 7:30 AM one you were supposed to when you get into the beer tents and get a table. We got there at about 10 oclock and of course started drinking beer.

We met some friends of ours who had gotten a table and were able to sit, but they had stopped selling beer in that section so we had to find elsewhere. Lucky for me my friend from school’s friend from home was at Oktoberfest too, in the same hall, and it took me like 10 minutes to find her and all her friends. Pretty impressive I’ve gotta say. 

Also, another convenience, after talking to her friends for just a little, one of them was going to Paris the next weekend, we were going to London and she offered her room to me. Hell yeah I took it. Anyways, after a few more steins, my friends got hungry and left the tent to get food, but little did they know they would have a real tough time getting back in. So, after a bit of time just hanging out in the same tent, Hofbrauhaus, we decided to go see what the other tents were like and try to find the rest of the group. THat didn’t go so well. The lines of the other tents were just as long. We decided to go to the Paulaner tent, but it really was tough and the pouring rain didn’t help at all. 

There were four of us trying to get in, two snuck in right away in the beginning but me and another girl got stuck in the big line, but still in the front row. I had to take the worst piss of my life, and I made sure to let the security guard in front of me know. WE were probably there for an hour, getting pushed back like a pack of farm animals. I finally said to one security guard trying to push us back “I help you, you help me” and tried to push the group back a bit, that and my overwhelming need to take a piss I think got a laugh out of him. So, another half hour passes and they try the same thing. This time I couldn’t take it anymore, I was pretty sure my bladder was going to explode. So I get out in front of the group and start literally pushing them back, not the same as before when I was just backing up, I literally got in front and started pushing these people back. I was pretty sure I was getting kicked when I felt the hand on my shoulder pulling me back, but that was met with the biggest sense of relief I had felt all day, alright well second after the piss, but they just alright you’re good and I dragged my friend from the crowd and we both marched in. Absolutely electric. And yes the piss was arguably the best of my life. I hadn’t ranked my best before that but I’m just gonna put that at the top of the list because it’s pretty fucking epic if you ask me. 

Anyways, we got into the tent, found a table, with met Americans, some that went to Northeastern and kept the party going. The music in the Paulaner tent was different form Haufbrauhaus where it was mostly German folk songs and things played out by the band. The Paulaner band was honestly a bit more exciting, playing legit bangers, words can’t accurately describe how hype it is seeing a guy in a full lederhosen put one leg on the railing of the Gazeebo in the middle and rip the electric guitar. Not to mention they played New York, New York by Frank Sinatra, holy shit the FOMO of not seeing a Yankee playoff game could not have hit me harder in that instant. But hey, I’m in fucking Europe. 

The rest of that day we spent in the Paulaner, and our friends finally met up with us later on… they bribed the security. The rest was still really fun, just drinking beer and jamming out to the songs with everyone in the crowd. I think that was eventually when I realized I didn’t think I’d experience anything like that again. The world’s biggest drinking fest, with people from around the world, all there for the same reason, to get drunk and drink a ton of beer. Truly a beautiful thing. Just a month long party. 

The bus ride home and nights of camping were awful i won’t lie but I’d rather not ruin this with all that drama, however I will say the tent was small as fuck, the campsite bathrooms were disgusting, only one kid of like the ten I knew that went showered, and the bathroom on the bus fucked up on the way home and the whole fucking thing smelled like shit for most of the ride. Other than that though great trip.