The Bizniz, Volume 4, Issue 5

College Football week 4 is upon us. The standings after last week are:

Hill 80-9 (2-3 upsets)
Chesh 75-14 (3-6 upsets)

My helmet sticker from last week goes to Terrelle Pryor (20-26, 224, 4 td's passing/7carries, 104 yards, td rushing). I love me some Terrelle Pryor and I'm thrilled to see Jim Tressel open things up and utilize his unique talents. Dude can BALL. Chesh went with Cam Newton of Auburn (13-21, 158, 2 td's passing/25 carries, 176 yards, 3 td's rushing).

This week's picks:

Texas A&M 23
#24 Oklahoma State 36
Chesh: Okla St 32 TAMU 24

#7 Florida 20
#1 Alabama 28
Chesh: Bama 27 Florida 16

#2 Ohio State 42
Illinois 21
Chesh: Ohio St 46 Illinois 16

#3 Boise State 56
New Mexico State 10
Chesh: Boise St 58 NMSU 10

Game of the Week
#13 Stanford 28
#4 Oregon 42
Chesh: Stanford 38 Oregon 34

#5 TCU 40
Colorado State 9
Chesh: TCU 48 Colo St 12

#16 Texas 17
#8 Oklahoma 28
Chesh: Okla 21 Texas 14

LA-Monroe 14
#11 Auburn 37
Chesh: Auburn 52 LA-M 10

#9 Wisconsin 23
#21 Michigan State 28*
Chesh: Wisc 17 Mich St 13

Tennessee 17
#10 LSU 32
Chesh: LSU 38 Tenn 17

#17 Miami 35
Clemson 27
Chesh: Clemson 28 Miami 23

#20 Penn State 20
#18 Iowa 27
Chesh: Iowa 28 Penn St 16

#19 Michigan 42
Indiana 20
Chesh: Mich 45 Indiana 13

#25 Nevada 48
UNLV 21
Chesh: Nevada 38 UNLV 17

Non-top 25 Game
Navy 24
Air Force 34
Chesh: AFA 28 Navy 17


I am loathe to spend time writing about uber-d-bag LeBron James but some recent comments he made (and that a few other sportswriters have written about) have compelled me. James said recently that race played a factor in the backlash with his decision. Shocking! How rare it is for the race card to be thrown out. You almost never see it. James is maligned because of the way he handled the entire situation in epic diva fashion, humiliating the Cavs organization and the city of Cleveland on worldwide television, NOT because he is black. Brett Favre is maligned because he too is a huge diva and holds his team hostage every offseason and makes everyone bend to his beck and call. Favre is an a-hole too and I'm fairly sure he ain't black.

I can relate to James though. The other night, I stubbed my toe while going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I hate to be "that guy" but I do feel like race played a role in the incident. A few months ago I got two parking tickets when the parking meters had expired. Clearly to me there are serious racial undertones here. A while back I went to the movies and the movie I wanted to see was sold out. Why? Racism. The automatic windows in my car don't roll down anymore and I can't help but wonder if they would roll down if I weren't white. My Sports Illustrated issue last week came all wrinkled up and part of the cover was torn. Makes me wonder. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

As for LeBron being "so motivated" and "taking note of all the haters", keep all those clippings, son. Put all the bulletin board material up you want. You couldn't win a championship in Cleveland. You aren't a champion. The Cavs had the best record in the NBA two years in a row and didn't even make the Finals either year. We as fans have taken note of that. Too bad you weren't "so motivated" during your Cavs career.

The Bizniz, Volume 4, Issue 4

Current standings in football pick 'em after week 3:
Hill 60-7 (2-2 upsets)
Chesh 58-9 (3-3 upsets)

Helmet stickers for last week: I went with Ryan Mallett, Arkansas QB (21-33, 380, 3 td's), Chesh went with Colin Kaepernick, QB Nevada (329 all purpose, 5 total td's).

Week 4 college football picks:
* denotes upset

#19 Miami 32
Pitt 21
Chesh: 20 Pitt 14

#5 TCU 45
SMU 24
Chesh: TCU 41 SMU 27

Game of the Week
#1 Alabama 24
#11 Arkansas 27*
Chesh: Arkansas 28 Bama 24

E. Michigan 12
#2 Ohio St 52
Chesh: Ohio St 56 E. Mich 0

Oregon St 24
#3 Boise St 30
Chesh: Boise 38 Ore St 26

#6 Oregon 42
Arizona St 27
Chesh: Oregon 38 ASU 27

S. Dakota St 3
#7 Nebraska 48
Chesh: Nebraska 58 S. Dak St 6

UCLA 24
#4 Texas 36
Chesh: Texas 28 UCLA 10

#9 Oklahoma 41
Cincinnati 21
Chesh: Okla 51 Cincy 28

Kentucky 17
#8 Florida 34
Chesh: Florida 33 UK 17

Austin Peay 14
#10 Wisconsin 37
Chesh: Wisconsin 37 A. Peay 16

#15 South Carolina 21
#14 Auburn 27
Chesh: Auburn 27 S. Car 19

San Jose St 12
#13 Utah 48
Chesh: Utah 48 SJSU 10

Cal 27
#16 Arizona 34
Chesh: Ariz 34 Cal 21

#21 West Va 21
#12 LSU 30
Chesh: LSU 34 West Va 21

#17 Stanford 35
Notre Dame 28
Chesh: ND 31 Stan 28

Ball St 7
#18 Iowa 37
Chesh: Iowa 44 Ball St 10

Bowling Green 28
#22 Michigan 42
Chesh: Mich 38 BG 14

Temple 10
#20 Penn St 38
Chesh: Temple 28 Penn St 24

N. Colorado 7
#23 Michigan St 40
Chesh: Mich St 38 N. Col 13

Miami (OH) 23
#24 Missouri 42
Chesh: Mizzou 31 Miami 23

Non Top 25 Game
Fresno St 14
Ole Miss 34
Chesh: Fresno 23 Ole Miss 16

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One of the hallmarks of The Bizniz has been the recognition of special achievements in the world of commercials. Since I didn't write for a long period I feel the need to give love to two commercial series, one a little older than the other.

First, the Dos Equis "Most Interesting Man In The World". These are still on periodically but their hay day was a year or two ago. Among the most classic lines: "He's a lover, not a fighter. But he's also a fighter, so don't get any ideas." Also, "He can disarm you with his looks, or his hands...either way." The tone and tenor of these commercials, along with the narration and the music equals some legendary material.

Second, the current "Old Spice Guy" commercials. Isaiah Mustafa is the man. These commercials are so random and so awesome. The initial spot (at least the first one I recall) may still be the best. In this commercial, the Old Spice Guy goes basically non-sequiter with lines like, "Look at my hand. It's two tickets to that thing you love. Now look again, the tickets are now diamonds." I also love the one where he has a mustache, tears it off, then tears off the mustache-less area again revealing a mustache. And you have to love the Old Spice whistle. I'm on a horse.

While I'm at it, I've gotta put the new Burger King breakfast commercial series on blast. Awful. Epic fail. Nein. They're trying to be funny and cool but it just does not work. The grub looks solid though.

The Bizniz, Volume 4, Issue 3

It's been a minute. I was having some internet/computer issues for a while. We're coming up on the 3rd week of college football. Throughout the season fellow blogger Jimmie Chesh (jimmiecheshsports.blogspot.com) and I will be predicting scores and winners for all top 25 games (based on USA Today poll) and Chesh will be breaking down matchups so check his blog for that. We will keep our standings throughout the season. We pick a top 25 game of the week, a non-top 25 game, and we have to pick at least one upset (broad term, for our purposes a lower ranked team beating a higher ranked team). Just winners and losers, no point spread nonsense. Through 2 weeks the standings are as follows:

Hill 38-5, 1-1 on upset picks
Chesh 37-6, 2-3 on upset picks

So here we go for week 3:

* denotes upset

#13 Arkansas 23
Georgia 14
Chesh: Ark 28 UGA 17

Maryland 24
#21 West Va 36
Chesh: W. Va 33 Mary 17

UMass 7
#22 Michigan 56
Chesh: Mich 47 UMass 6

Ohio 13
#2 Ohio St 48
Chesh: Ohio St 55 Ohio 10

Kent St 10
#20 Penn St 41
Chesh: Penn St 30 Kent St 13

#8 Nebraska 20
Washington 21*
Chesh: Nebraska 38 Wash 26

Ariz St 14
#11 Wisconsin 38
Chesh: Wisc 37 ASU 17

#7 Florida 42
Tennessee 17
Chesh: Florida 27 Tenn 16

Air Force 21
#9 Oklahoma 40
Chesh: Okla 41 AF 24

#1 Alabama 38
Duke 16
Chesh: Alabama 48 Duke 16

Baylor 14
#5 TCU 40
Chesh: TCU 43 Baylor 10

Portland St St 7
#6 Oregon 65
Chesh: Oregon 58 Port St 3

Furman 10
#16 S. Carolina 41
Chesh: S. Car 45 Furman 7

Miss St 20
#12 LSU 31
Chesh: LSU 24 Miss St 13

Clemson 21
#15 Auburn 36
Chesh: Auburn 28 Clem 26

#3 Boise St 40
Wyoming 21
Chesh: Boise 51 Wyoming 7

#14 Utah 45
UNM 10
Chesh: Utah 44 UNM 17

#4 Texas 38
Tex Tech 23
Chesh: Texas 24 TTech 18

#23 Houston 36
UCLA 21
Chesh: Hou 44 UCLA 23

Game of the Week
#10 Iowa 24
Arizona 32*
Chesh: Iowa 27 Arizona 24

Wake 14
#19 Stanford 38
Chesh: Stanford 38 Wake 13

SDSU 17
#25 Mizzou 42
Chesh: Mizz 28 SDSU 10

#24 Cal 45
Nevada 24
Chesh: Nevada 27 Cal 17

Non-top 25 Game
Ga Tech 26
UNC 20
Chesh: UNC 28 GT 17


Gotta check in with a few thoughts on Reggie Bush too, as word came out yesterday that Bush would give his Heisman trophy back in the wake of the entire USC improper benefits scandal. Bush becomes the first Heisman winner to forfeit the award, although according to sources he would have become the first winner to have it stripped so perhaps he was acting preemptively. I was a huge fan of Reggie Bush as USC. He is among the three best college football players of all-time in my opinion, along with Tim Tebow and Vince Young (no particular order). He was electrifying in space, whether as an edge rusher, out in the flat as a receiver, or as a return man. He deserved to win the Heisman no question (sorry VY heads, the award was given out weeks prior to the Superman Rose Bowl performance, and even with that game it's still a close race to me). Bush's infractions seem rather mild, albeit illegal based on NCAA rules. Some sleazy "marketing" people sought to get hooks into Bush, a future pro, by giving Bush's family a house to live in for free. This is essentially the gist of his catastrophic rule breaking. How much Bush himself benefited is up for debate; perhaps he got money under the table, etc. But it's interesting that Bush felt compelled to return his Heisman (USC had already removed its copy from the school's trophy case, along with all Bush images and references) while fellow Trojan O.J. Simpson keeps his. True, the Juice did not commit his... uh... indiscretions (whether the whole Nicole Simpson "thing" or the armed kidnapping rap for which he is currently in prison) while at school and Bush did. But if Bush felt (or was) compelled to forfeit his Heisman, many other trophies/awards in many locations from many sports could likewise be returned if all the facts of those athletes' careers were known. Perhaps it was the right thing to do, at least from the perspective of taking some heat off USC (although the aftershocks will still be felt in the form of sanctions) and allowing the Bush and, to a lesser degree, the Saints to focus on defending their Super Bowl crown. It would be cool if the Heisman trust eventually gave Bush the award back, maybe after he retires in the future and has paid whatever dues he still has outstanding. Maybe he could visit O.J. in prison as goodwill.