ACC WEEKLY EGG TOSS PICKS WITH SISTER HAZEL!

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This week, I am offering up a unique way to help bring the ACC weekly egg toss picks closer to home, with more emotion. I give you the best thing to come out of Gainesville other than Steve Spurrier and Muschamp's STARE OF DEATH… I give you SISTER HAZEL!

 “I miss you -I miss being overwhelmed by you. And I need rescue -I think I'm fading away. But I keep thinking that you'll wake me up with a whisper in my ear - I keep hoping that you'll sneak in my room…”

• I’m 110% positive that this has to do with the ACC’s lusting desires for Miami in 2005. Why else would you want Larry Coker and his 2001 National Title to come whisper in your ear while laying in bed? We all know that Virginia Tech isn’t going to get it done this year either…so look for this game to be miserable to watch. Nothing like 2 overhyped teams playing in a county with more meth labs per capita than any other in VA! Pick: VT

“So I wait and I wait…and I run old scenes through my tired head- Of the days we laid by the school and said forever…Was that the best I'll ever be?”

• See… here’s the part where everybody starts to question if FSU in 1999 and Miami in 2001 will be the best the ACC will ever be. I’d have to say with yes…that is the best you will be Championship wise. However...UNC and Louisville play this week, and I’ve got to say…The Cardinals are likely asking themselves the same question after winning the Orange Bowl in 2007. This game is a tough one, but I’ll have to give the nudge to UNC at home. BUT, TAKE THE POINTS AND LOUISVILLE! Pick: UNC

“I miss you. I miss talking all night long with you, and I need this to find a way to your home. My love can you hear me? Have I been hoping loud enough, wishing hard enough? Can you see me when I'm asleep all alone – alone?”

• OK…outside of being overtly creepy and stalkerish…this isn’t a bad question for John Swofford to be asking Bobby Bowden. Let’s be honest here for a second…Bobby Bowden was the ACC and was the main driving force in the conference for 2 decades. Close your eyes and imagine a grown ass man weeping into a phone saying “Bobby, come back! I need you!” Good thing for FSU, they play Wake Forest this weekend and they will not need any help beating the Daemon Deacons. Although, EJ Manuel is back for the Seminoles, so no more sleeping all alone on the sidelines! Pick: FSU

“So I wait and I wait, and I run myself in the same old circles. I sit and I stare, and I run old scenes through my tired head of the days that we laid by the school and said forever….Was that the best I'll ever be?”

• NC State fans, but I’m sorry. Your football team will never be anything, but you had the chance before your head coach told Russell Wilson that he couldn’t play 2 sports. Yea, that didn’t hurt you at all did it? I mean, it’s not like Wisconsin is good this year or anything…right? Speaking of running in the same old circles, do you think a directional Michigan school ever gets lost…or just “runs around in circles”? Either way, look for more of the same from those types of schools this week. Pick: NCSU

“Can't keep my hands from shaking….Stumbling through the wreckage again….But you're gone”

• Dude, I can’t think of a better analogy for Maryland than this. Remember, you beat Miami with some hellacious uniforms! Sadly, since you can’t throw, catch, or run the ball from you shaking so much because you got just a little bit of attention, you drop one at home to TEMPLE! I’m pretty sure that the Terps will be stumbling through the Georgia Tech Ramblin’ Wreckage again. (See what I did there?) Pick: Georgia Tech          

“So I wait and I wait, and I run myself in the same old circles. And I sit and I stare…And I run old scenes through my tired head. Of the days that we laid on our backs and said forever…Was that the best I'll ever be…Was that the best I'll ever be….Was that the best I'll ever be?”

• Everyone…unless you are reading via cell phone… close your eyes and think about this. Don’t you see Danny Ford and Dabo Swinney skipping down The Hill after rubbing Howard’s rock? All of a sudden, both of them lying on their backs talking about the alleged 1981 National Title while picking flowers and caressing each other’s face? Clemson fans have to be asking right about now if that was the best they will ever be. Quite frankly, they are going to fall ass backwards into an 8-9 win season…or greater if they don’t F it up. It kills me to say this, but I think Clemson destroys Boston College because they will never, ever, be the best at anything football related. If they lose, it’s only because Dabo is daydreaming about forever with Danny Ford. Pick: Clemson.

-Gamblin Boss

My Weekly Picks, “I’m A Certified Member of ShameCocks Anonymous” & Ramblings

First, let me begin by saying thank you to those of you who have hung in there and kept up with this blog when others haven’t. We all get busy, and this is just a forum for ideas…so you can’t really bitch about free things. We did come out of the gate hot, but jobs come first...but with that said I have a pretty open Friday, so here’s what has been on my mind for the past week or so:

#1 – The South Carolina Gamecocks…my pride and joy for every day of my 10,141.75 (that’s 365.25 days a year) days of existence…have become the most frustrating thing to watch since Obama getting elected. I’ve been there for 3-6-2 seasons. I was there for 1-10.I was there for when Clemson fans thought it was funny to throw “ZERO” candy bars on your porch after losing to them and going 0-11. Let’s really, really, really hope that this is only grooming my patience for when I have a little Gamblin’ Boss of my own to teach the right and wrongs of the world. If that is all I get out of it, then it’s going to be a plus. Otherwise I’m going to be dead by the age of 42 and fully gray by 35. Can we not get our shit together? (Speaking of shit…I’d like to present the reason behind my picture choice above. I would like to offer the analogy to you that South Carolina is competing in their first marathon. Winning the SEC East last year was a 10k challenge, so this year they are going all in. Many months have been spent training and practicing for this moment. Finally, they get close to the finish line and shit themselves. You can make the finish line whatever you like! Use your imagination!

 By far, we have the talent to play really good ball, but where is it? Has Spurrier’s pride and hard ass mentality of Garcia over the past years finally caught up to him? Is he accepting that the copious suspensions and public bashing/criticism can all be wiped away by a season where “we are here to coach Stephen and he will do the best that he can do”? Bullshit. You can’t tell someone for 3 years how horrible they are, how much better they need to play, .etc and all of a sudden say that you are fine. Oh yea, Lattimore ran for what, 17 times again Auburn? I give Chiznik a nod to coaching, although any idiot can beat SC. Stack the box with 8…then on 3^rd and long sit back and play cover 2 with a spy. It aint difficult! If we don’t beat Kentucky like a rented mule, I’m going to go ahead and hope I don’t have to travel for the bowl game…as the BBVA Compass Bowl is here in Birmingham! YAY MEDIOCRITY!

#2 – Paul Finebaum, and other sports talk radio – A funny thing happened to me on the way in to work today. WJOX here in the ‘ham was doing their daily rundown of SEC games for the upcoming week… LSU/UF, UT/UGA, UA/VANDY, MSU/UAB…on and on. They get to the end and say “well, I guess that’s about it. We can’t think of any other SEC game this week that we missed”. No mention of South Carolina. Not even a peep. I understand I’m living in a place where I’m going to catch shit, and I’m OK with that. Bammer fans are making fun of SC because we lost to a team that …remember…had to score twice in 2 minutes to beat Utah State. Also, we’re the team that lost at home to the team that let Clemson hang 600 yards of offense on them. Auburn fans? You have no idea what I get on the roads. Driving with a Gamecock logo and license plate frame on your car is a target for abuse. Going back to the talk radio angle, no one takes the SEC East or South Carolina seriously…and rightfully so. It’s painful to listen to any local talk here because it makes you realize that A – SC will never…EVER…be an elite team and B – SC will never, ever, get the respect it wants from fans west of Georgia.

#3 – Fantasy Football – I think I have turned a corner. Even after winning my league last year…I think I have lost the will to compete in fantasy football. What’s funny, I can’t put a finger on why.

Reasons why I love Fantasy Football: competitive, fun, easy, get to BS with other people in the league, make trades that involve risk, opportunity to win money

Reasons why I am burnt out on Fantasy Football: in a league where you have diehards and space fillers, lack of competitive talk, lack of people paying for the league, other things to do on a Sunday, lack of time to commit during the week

Again, I have no clue why this happened this year…but it did. Of the 3 leagues I am in, I just don’t care about it. I love football, and I love being around other people that love it as much as I do. Maybe I just surrounded myself with too many space fillers…or maybe I’ve become one to some extent.

#4 – COLD BEER. I love me a drink…but not in the “Holy shit I need a drink and it’s 3PM” but more of the “Man, there is nothing better than a cold draft beer and football on the big screen”. I don’t know what it is, but if you are either outside or watching sports…BEER TASTE DELICIOUS. Last Saturday we spent about 4 hours at Buffalo Wild Wings and I tell you what, those pitchers went down like water. Even when Carolina got beat I still enjoyed the taste. Now, I am a big Bourbon connoisseur…this much is true…but there are just times when beer blows dark liquor out of the water.

#5 - Facebook blows. I’m starting to take a page out of my fellow writer 63 Sports and turn my back away from it. When you think about it, Facebook could be like a giant star that is full of life…then continues to grow so large that it can no longer contain itself…and slowly collapses. I’m to the point in my life where I don’t feel the need to hop on a see what everyone else is doing constantly. More so, I don’t see the need to update my status or “LIKE” whatever someone else has posted. What’s even worse…checking in to a place that you should be…such as “HOME” or “at work”…AND CHECKING IN ANYWHERE IN GENERAL. This is becoming a way to humble brag about things to the 10000^th degree. Why should someone care if you are checking into the Biltmore Estate? What about if you check into the wrong tailgate spot? “Oh God! I did it again! It says I’m in the Fairgrounds but really I am at Carolina Walk!” Then of course, you could be that guy who checks into an airport…the biggest tool move of them all. Why? Because nothing says attention whore more than “I’m getting to travel but I’m not going to tell you where so you better ask, like, or comment on my status so other people could see it because I’m too goodie goodie and don’t want to brag about where I am going even though I should tell you because you are my friends, right?”.

#6 – The Yankees – THANK GOD THEY GOT BEAT. THAT IS ALL.

PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! PICKS! 

Here’s who I like this week:

Louisville +14 @ UNC

Oklahoma – 10.5 @ Texas

Pitt @Rutgers +7

Central Michigan @ NC State -10.5

Florida @ LSU – 13