Ryno's Picks

I've decided that reading my football picks is probably boring for most people so I'm not going to do it anymore. Well, not on this blog at least. I've created another site dedicated to sports gambling. Check it out at Ryno's Picks.

There will be a permanent link at the right side of this page. I'll be posting my weekly football picks until the end of the season. After that, I'll probably concentrate on college and/or pro basketball... and then MLB, you get the idea.

Sorry if I bored anyone out there.

Home for the holidays

I always love going home. Maybe it's because I miss my old home and friends in Maine... then again maybe it's because Jersey beats. Either way, it was good to be home. Between my Mom ragging me about not having a girlfriend and my Grandmother mentioning that "You need to have kids before I expire" I somehow managed to remain sane (at least for most of the time).

The worst part about being home is those stupid fake conversations that you have with all the people you haven't seen since the last time you were home. There were probably 5 people who I actually cared to listen to, the rest of my conversations went like this:

random person: "So, how have you been?"
me: "Good, how was your Thanksgiving?"
random person: "Good, where are you living now?"
me: "New Jersey, same old same old"
random person: "How do you like Jersey?"
me: "It beats."

You get the idea. I must have had that exact conversation with about 50 different people while I was home. I had it down so good that I basically knew what people were going to say before they said it. I started answering questions that weren't even asked. I realized people didn't really care what I had to say, so I saved them the effort of asking.

But it was good to be home. Watching people on the beer die table, drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon, listening to the new Aaron Wallace song "Venison ain't just a meat" and sitting on the couch all day watching football. It doesn't get any better than that.

Week 12

After an amazing week of football last week, which included my picks going 13-2-1 and me winning about $250 bucks, I feel obligated to give my picks again for this week. However, I have a bad feeling about week 12 football. The spreads are high, and are going to be tough to predict. So without further adieu:

Week 12:
Chicago (+3.5) over Cowboys: The Cowboys suck
Lions (+9) over Colts: Lions strive on Turkey Day
Falcons (-9.5) over Saints: The Saints suck
Bangals (-6) over Browns: Bangals are playing well
Raiders (+11) over Broncos: The Raiders suck, but the spread is too big
Chargers (+3) over Chiefs: The Chargers are playing well
Vikings (-6) over Jags: Moss is back, look out
Patriots (-7) over Ravens: Can't bet against the Pats
Cardinals (+3) over Jets: Quincy Carter? Wasn't he cut by the Cowboys???
Phillies (-7) over Giants: Eli doesn't have enough experience
Redskins (+11) over Steelers: Steelers players are dropping like flies
Dolphins (0) over 49ers: Both teams suck, your guess is as good as mine
Bucs (-2.5) over Panthers: The Bucs are better than they look
Texans (+1.5) over Titans: Texans have been playing well
Packers (-6) over Rams: Favre is too good in crunch time

Last week: 13-2-1
Total: 21-7-1

So there you have it. I'm predicting this to be my worst week so far, so don't get your hopes up. However, last week was so awesome, I could lose every game and still be happy. I love football. Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

Boarding in November

Yikes, I've got to remember not to drink and blog. Sorry about the rambling in my last post.

Anyway, me and my roommate Joe went snowboarding yesterday. I missed the big Lehigh/Lafayette football game. Not to worry, the good guys won (Lafayette).

Back to snowboarding... the conditions were suprisingly good. Maybe it's because I'm used to going to Mountain Creek, which isn't known for tremendous snow conditions. The only down side was that the mountain was packed with people. Oh, and it started to rain too... but other than that, it was great.

Since today I'm nursing a sore back, I'll be sitting in front of the TV all day watching football and grilling hot dogs. Hello Sunday!

Random stuff

Well, I purchased the first Iron & Wine Cd off Ebay earlier this week. At least I thought I did. I got a huge box in the mail today and apparently I had been bidding on a vinal record instead of a CD. Sweet, I guess it's a good thing I have a record player in my room.

Damn you Ebay and your vague listings!

Anyway, I always thought vinal sounds better than digital music. I know, that sounds ridiculous, but it's my opinion so screw you (sorry, I may or may not have had 5 glasses of wine tonight). It's a cool album if you like solo acoustic stuff. The song writing is amazing. I would write a review on my music review blog if I wasn't a lazy bastard... but I am.

Needs to be mentioned: My parents sent me a Halloween card that had 3 girls taking shots on the cover and the inside said "Screw the candy bars and popcorn balls". This was one of my highlights of last month. How sad is that?

Does it make me weird that I have 3 pet piranha? Does it make me more weird that I think about casting my fly line in there every day?

My college (Lafayette College) elected to have Wayne Brady perform over Dave Chapelle and Jim Breuer. This must have been the worst decision made by a large body of people in recent history... that is until Bush was re-elected. Zing!

I've been considering changing the name of my blog. Not because I don't like it, but because I feel like some (most) people will not understand it's meaning. Any ideas on this? Let me know.

Week 11 picks

Well, after last week's football picks went pretty well (8-5), I've decided to do it again. I would have had 9 right, but I forgot to post one of my predictions. Anyway, he are my picks for week 11.

Falcons (-3) over Giants
Ravens (-8) over Cowboys
Cardinals (+3) over Panters
Jets (0) over Browns
Broncos (-4) over Saints
Packers (-3) over Texans
Colts (-7) over Bears
Jaguars (-3) over Titans
Lions (-7.5) over Vikings
Eagles (-10.5) over Redskins
Steelers (-4.5) over Bangals
Chargers (-4) over Raiders
Dolphins (-10) over Seahawks
Buffalo (+1) over Rams
Bucs (-8) over 49ers
Patriots (-3) over Chiefs

Last week (8-5)
Total (8-5)

Now that that's out of the way, I can tell you about our stupid idea this weekend. We are going snowboarding. Yes, it's mid November... Yes, I live in New Jersey... No, there is no snow on the ground... Yes, I have a season pass to the nearest mountain... No, we are not going to that mountain... Shall I continue???

Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes. Some mountain up in the Catskill's has around 1 trail open, so we are going to check it out. If I don't post for a few weeks, then I probably broke my neck. Have a good one.

Review time: Scrubs & Indahouse

TV Show Review: Scrubs
One of my favorite new shows is Scrubs on NBC. When I say new, I mean new to me. It's actually in it's second season, but sadly I didn't find out about this show until a few months ago (Hello first season DVD). Anyway, it's is absolutely hilarious. It centers around the character J.D, played by Zach Braff (Writer/Director/Star of the movie Garden State), and other newbie medical staffers at the Sacred Heart Hospital. So far I haven't found a character in the show that I didn't like:
JD - hilarious
JD's best friend Turk - hilarious
the Janitor - hilarious
Dr. Cox - hysterical
etc...

Every character plays an important roll, except for the occasional guest apperence including the annoying guy from Mad About You (wait, did I just admit that I've watched Mad About You before?).

It has finally reached "Keep until I delete" status on my TiVO so I'm not missing another episode. Anyway, watch the show and decide for youselves. It's on at 9:30 on Tuesday nights. Watch it!

Movie Review: Ali G Indahouse
Why had nobody told me about this movie? It came out in 2002 and I just saw it last night! I watched it with my 2 roommates and we were cracking up the whole movie. There is some very crude humor including a couple of fake penis scenes (which were fairly disturbing), but also lots of hot girls to offset them. This guy also has a special on HBO which I admit I've never watched before, but if HBO gave him his own show, he's got to be funny, right? Anyway, go rent the movie because it's awesome.

This months odds

I wouldn't say I watch a lot of TV, but on Sundays it's football all day. That being said, I must have seen the Burger King commercial about chickenfight.com around 1 billion times. This got me thinking, are they really going to dress 2 grown men in chicken costumes and hold a steel cage boxing match? I bet the ratings would be through the roof on this.

So I checked it out and it's just some stupid game on the internet. I was slightly disappointed. I was thinking of putting some money down on "Spicy" to win. Not only is the Spicy Tender Chicken a superior sandwich, "Spicy" just sounded like a winner to me.

Anyway, it got me thinking about some other random things that I would like to bet on happening this month. I'm sure you want to know what they are, so here we go.

My dryer (the 3rd one I've owned this month) will be broken in less than a months time (3 to 1 odds)

My cell phone will cut off at least 10 people (10 to 1 odds - this would be less, but I don't get that many calls, although it is a Verizon phone)

I will get more than 37 different offers for credit cards in the mail (2 to 1 odds)

I will be disappointed in the season premier of The Simpsons (4 to 1 odds)

I will forget to watch Scrubs before it's erased from my TiVO (5 to 1 odds)

I will execute at least 3 random fist pumps because I'm still excited the Red Sox won the World Series (3 to 1)

The Sox will claim off waivers some Left-handed pitcher who hasn't played since 2003 because of Tommy John surgery, while 16 other Sox players will file for free agency (wait, that already happened)

It will take me more than 3 hours to get through the security at Newark International Airport the day before Thanksgiving (2 to 1 odds)

George Bush will say something stupid (I'm not even going to put odds on this because I know it's going to happen)

(do I have any takers?)

You Got Served.... part 2

Is anybody else out there getting tired of some of these NFL players? It's becoming more of a soap opera than a Football game. Owens does some crazy dance in the endzone, which is making fun of Ray Lewis who does the same dance when he scores. Ok, who cares, but the announcers make a huge deal of it. Then I hear that Ed Reed (yes, I said Ed Reed) is choreographing his own dance for the occasion. Wait, last I checked, Ed Reed plays defense. So maybe we'll see his dance in '05 or '06.

I feel like this Sunday is going to be "You Got Served Part 2". Where people settle their differences with dance offs. I wish these guys would just shut up and play some football.

So without further delay, here are my football picks for this week:

Ravens (0) over Jets: Jets lost Pennington and are going with Quincy Carter who has yet to throw a pass this season. Plus, the Ravens have a great defense so it's not looking good for the Jets.

Steelers (-3.5) over Browns: Steelers just beat 2 undefeated teams in a row. Case closed.

Colts (-9) over Texans: This one was tough, but Payton scores touchdowns in his sleep so I'm going with the Colts.

Titans (-5.5) over Bears: I wanted to say the Bears would beat the spread, then I realized I was talking nonesense.

Bucs (+4) over Falcons: Not sure why, but I feel like the Bucs can pull this one out.

Lions (+3) over Jags: I love the Lions!

Seahawks (-1) over Rams: The Pats beat the Rams with half of their team injured. I think the Seahawks will walk through this game.

Saints (+3.5) over Chiefs: Preist Holms may not play. This means the Chiefs will lose.

Bangals (+3) over Redskins: Because the Redskins suck.

Vikings (+4) over Packers: The Vikings will hopefully find a way to play without Moss.

Giants (-2) over Cardinals: Ok, the Giants lost 2 of their best defensive men, but they are playing the Cardinals, come on.

Patriots (-7) over Bills: I'm not allowed to pick against the Pats.

Eagles (-6.5) over Cowboys: I hate the Cowboys. This one was easy.

Evil Empire #2

I bought the Garden State Soundtrack last week. Truly one of the best albums I've heard recently. Lot's of great songs from bands I had never heard of before. Since I've heard a lot of great music lately, here are my top 5 favorite new songs that you should check out:

1. Run - Snow Patrol
2. Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day
3(tie). Caring is Creepy - The Shins
New Slang - The Shins
4. Look What You've Done - Jet
5. Blue Eyes - Cary Brothers

While I'm on the subject of music, I need to mention how Walmart is single handedly destroying the music market. There's a great article in Rolling Stone (October issue) about how they are causing independant stores to close.

Why does this concern me? Because the CD selection at Walmart sucks! I wanted to buy an Iron and Wine CD last week, but Walmart is the only place to buy music within a 30 minute radius of my house, and if the CD is not on the top 40, then forget it. I had to buy it online so now I'll be waiting for another week until I can get it.

Just look at these numbers:
Tower Records and Sam Goody - lost 330 million in record sales since 1996
Local retailers - lost 120 million in record sales since 1996
Walmart, Target, & Bestbuy - gained 1.3 BILLION in record sales since 1996

Stop shopping at Walmart, please!

(by the way, if you don't know who Evil Empire #1 is, then you're definitely not a Redsox fan)

Blood loss

I gave blood for the second time ever yesterday, and I almost passed out again. How high is this on the embarrassment scale? I would rate it at a 8 out of 10. I felt like an idiot. I'm not a small person either (160ish lbs).

So there I am, laying on a cot in front of 50 other people waiting to give blood with my feet in the air and staring at the ceiling for 30 minutes. Yes, I did eat before I gave. No I did not get up too fast after I was done. I guess my body just hates giving it's blood away.

On the good side, I did get 4 1/2 hours off work yesterday. Also today and tomorrow off due to Veteran's Day. Got to love government work!

Anything exciting going on in Northern New Jersey or NYC this weekend?

Ummmm, toasty

I was in my new favorite fast food chain (Quizno's) tonight, and this guy in front of me asked for "Yellow cheese". Ok, I would be fine with this... if this guy was 7 years old. In reality, he was closer to 40. When the girl behind the counter (who hardly spoke english) looked at him like he was a moron, she said "Do you want American, Provolone, Chedder...(etc)?" So the guy says "uhhhh, can I have white cheese?"

I don't know about you, but I thought that was hilarious. I almost laughed out loud standing right behind him. It just shows the intelligence level of the community I'm living in right now. Thank you New Jersey for raising the best and brightest.

(yes, I realize not everybody in Jersey is that stupid, but I love to stereotype)

Does anyone else think there is something disturbing about the singing rodents in the Quizno's commercials? I just found this link to see them sing the Moon Song, it’s hilarious. Anyway, I need to mention that Quizno's makes unbelievable sandwiches. 10 times better than Subway, and a much bigger selection. The only downfall is that they are super slow, but it's worth the wait.


"We love the Sub!" 

Yeah, sorry about that

I just re-read the post I wrote just after the election and realized that I sound like an idiot. Of course people have different opinions, but that does not make them morons. So I guess I apologize. I was just frustrated since I didn't get my way. Althought I'm still amazed that so many people feel like Bush did a good enough job the last 4 years to get a second term. Absolutely amazed.

So who's going to run next year for the Republicans? McCain? I could see myself voting for him. He seems like a much more reasonable person than Bush. Of course I really don't know much about him, but I did see him on the Daily Show. I'm not quite sure how I feel about Hilary Clinton running yet on the Democrat ticket. I guess we'll just see what happens over the next 4 years.

My favorite quote this week: "Well, at least the Daily Show will be funny for 4 more years." -my buddy Andrew

My bad habits

Ok, I've been way to lazy to post all of my sports bets so I'm just going to post my results so far. So here we go.

Baseball: 5-4-1
I didn't start putting money on the games till the end of the season, so I didn't get a lot of experience. Plus, I was too emotionally drained to put money on the Sox, so I missed out on their 8-game winning streak. Maybe next year.

Football: 31-26-1
Ok, so this isn't a great record, but it's not bad. I was doing much better at the beginning of the season. So hopefully my luck will change in the next few weeks. Also, Sunday's have become my favorite day of the week once I started betting. I know, that's sad.

Baseketball: 3-1
Starting off strong, but this means absolutely nothing. Hopefully I can keep this up for a while.

So in total I'm up. It's hard to say how much I'm up because I've got a lot of future bets going on (which include a Pats/Eagles Superbowl). Also a bunch of over/unders for baseketball teams total wins. But even if I lose all of my future bets, I'm still up. So I would say I'm doing pretty well. My favorite bet so far was to pick David Ortiz to hit the first homerun of the World Series. I won 40 bucks on that bet.

I'm revising my football betting strategy (which consisted of a combination of my knowledge and Bill Simmon's picks). I will be erasing the "my knowledge" part because it alwasy causes me to lose. So here are my picks for this week.

Lions (-3.5)
Chiefs (-3)
Chargers (-6.5)
Seahawks (-6.5)
Giants (-9)
Vikings (+6) if Moss is available.
Plus one more to be determined. Probably Patriots (-1.5)

Don't wanna be an American idiot

I am not a very politically knowledgeable person. I'm just an ordinary guy trying to decide who would be the best person to run our country. So I went into this election with an open mind. I wanted to make the right choice so I watched the debates, I did some research, stayed up to date on current affairs, and I came to a decision. It was pretty easy actually. All the research pointed in the same direction. It seemed like it was common sense who was the best choice.

Kerry

He would lift bans on stem cell research (good). He would not mess with the constitution (good). He would keep church and state separate (good). He would improve our reputation with the rest of the world (good). He would improve our economy (not sure if this is true, but it can't get much worse - good). He would improve child education (not hard to do considering Bush's efforts - good). Maybe, just maybe he would sign the Kyoto Protocol (good).

This was an easy decision. This should have been an easy decision. I can't emphasize how easy this decision was. So why did the majority of America choose differently? Well, I've come up with 2 possibilities.

1. I missed something. Something so big that it cancels out all the good that Kerry would have brought to the country and cancels all the bad that Bush has done. How could I miss something this big? Don't know, you tell me.

2. The majority of Americans are morons.

I'm leaning towards the latter. I'd like to think that I did my homework, researched thoroughly, and came up with the right decision. I'm not stupid. I graduated from one of the top 10 engineering schools in the country. I'll have my Master's Degree soon. Is it possible that I am so completely wrong about all of this? I'm willing to bet the majority of American's did NOT do the research that I did. This makes me think I was right after all, I just live in a country full of idiots.

Movie time!

I saw Garden State a couple of weeks ago. I definitely suggest it. I thought the writing was fantastic. I also enjoyed the camera work, special effects, and there were some great music choices as well (I may go out and buy the soundtrack). There really wasn't much of a plot. Just the young man struggling with his identity and lost childhood. Not much excitement, but Braff (writer/director/star of the movie) truely pulled it off. Braff may have just passed Ed Norton as my favorite actor to watch. I hope he writes/directs/stars in another movie soon. Also, watch Scrubs, it's hilarious.

I went to see Saw last weekend. What can I say about this movie. I guess it sort of proves the Adaptation theory. Wow them in the end, and the rest of the movie doesn't matter. I'm going to say that this movie was mediocre with a good ending. Couldn't have seen that coming from a mile away. I don't want to talk about it too much because I don't want to spoil anything. It's a very disturbing movie and a little tough to watch at times. I didn't find it scary at all, but it was interesting. I would compare it to the movie Seven, but not quite as good. I still have one of the last scenes stuck in my head and it's driving me nuts.

Weird coincidence: I was watching Robin Hood: Prince of Theives before I went to see Saw. Then one of the main characters in Saw was the guy who played Robin Hood in Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Is it weird that I notice these things?

Rented Supersize Me last week. You must see this movie. It's crazy. I feel like I can never eat McDonald's again. Absolutely amazing how bad that stuff is for you. Just watch the movie. Movies never lie!

Next movie I want to see: Team America: World Police