The Bizniz, Volume 4, Issue 7

It was a rough week for picks last week for both Chesh and I. I rolled the dice on more upset picks than usual (just the way the matchups worked out) and they did not pan out. I do want to say, though, that I thought Arkansas/Texas A&M was a true road game for the Hogs (from a cursory glance at the schedule), not a neutral site game so there's a little asterisk there for me. It was a close game.

Hill: 108-16 (4-7 upsets) overall, 13-7 (1-3) last week
Chesh: 99-25 (3-11 upsets) overall, 12-8 (0-3) last week

Helmet stickers for last week: many really good choices out there. I went with Andrew Luck, Stanford QB (20-24, 285, 3 td's, no picks). I mainly went with Luck because he played great in what has become a really good rivalry game, and the game went right down to the wire with two ranked teams. Chesh went with Taylor Martinez, Nebraska QB (369 all purpose, 5 total td's). Cam Newton from Auburn gets the honorable mention from both of us. Check Chesh's full game capsules at http://jimmiecheshsports.blogspot.com/

We'll see how this week's picks go. (* denotes upset)

South Florida 16
#25 West Virginia 35
Chesh: West Va 31 S. Fla 10

Illinois 17
#11 Michigan State 41
Chesh: Mich St 44 Ill 20

Boston College 21
#17 Florida State 43
Chesh: Fla St 37 BC 14

#19 Missouri 34
Texas A&M 30
Chesh: A&M 28 Mizz 24

Texas 17
#4 Nebraska 36
Chesh: Neb 31 Tex 21

Game of the Week
#13 Arkansas 28*
#7 Auburn 23
Chesh: Aub 27 Ark 24

#14 Iowa 30
#24 Michigan 24
Chesh: Mich 35 Iowa 21

#18 Oklahoma State 40
Texas Tech 24
Chesh: Okla St 48 TexT 38

BYU 17
#5 TCU 34
Chesh: TCU 48 BYU 27

#12 South Carolina 33
Kentucky 23
Chesh: S. Car 27 UK 17

#10 Utah 45
Wyoming 20
Chesh: Utah 59 Wyo 10

#1 Ohio State 34
#16 Wisconsin 21
Chesh: Ohio St 24 Wisc 20

Iowa State 24
#6 Oklahoma 48
Chesh: Okla 54 Iowa St 17

McNeese State 6
#9 LSU 39
Chesh: LSU 44 McSU 6

Mississippi State 17
#22 Florida 27
Chesh: Fla 26 Miss St 13

#20 Arizona 42
Washington State 24
Chesh: Ariz 45 Wash St 17

#3 Boise State 48
San Jose State 17
Chesh: Boise 58 SJSU 13

#23 Air Force 35
San Diego State 28
Chesh: AF 34 SDSU 21

Ole Miss 14
#8 Alabama 32
Chesh: Bama 41 Ole Miss 21

#21 Nevada 44
Hawaii 14
Chesh: Nev 52 Haw 41

Non Top 25 Game
Kansas State 27
Kansas 21
Chesh: K-St 34 KU 17

As an Atlanta Braves fan of almost 20 years now, I have to take a minute to shout out Bobby Cox, the manager of the Braves who as of last night is now retired from MLB. Cox led the Braves from worst to first in 1991 and never looked back. The Braves won an unmatched 14 straight division titles in the National League, 5 NL pennants, and a World Series championship in 1995. True, 14 playoff appearances yielding only one title is disappointing. I certainly would love to have had more championships to celebrate. But when Cox took over the Braves in 1990 they were a cellar dweller for well over a decade. He, along with GM John Schuerholz, built the Braves into a perennial contender. I think it's a good time to move forward as an organization and get a new manager (word is that fomer Marlins manager--and one time Braves bench coach--Fredi Gonzalez is the favorite) after Cox has helmed the Braves for over 20 years. But Bobby Cox is a legend in baseball and he deserves all the credit in the world for what he's done in Atlanta. Cox finished with 2,504 wins, good for 4th all time. He was a 4 time Manger of the Year (3 with Atlanta). Most importantly, he'd take a bullet for any one of his players, as evidenced by his record 158 ejections, almost always for arguing on behalf of a player. On behalf of all Braves fans, thanks for the memories.

Also, I want to shout the ESPN documentary series 30 for 30. I haven't seen them all but I have caught many of them and they are outstanding. I loved the one about the Miami Hurricanes of the 80's and 90's, entitled The U. Another doc that I was a fan of was Straight Outta L.A., which documented the rise of hip-hop in SoCal and the inexorable connection with the then-L.A. Raiders. Run Ricky Run was a fascinating glimpse into the life of the enigmatic Ricky Williams.The recent one about the incredible Red Sox comeback of 2004 (Four Days in October) was great. This week's was called Once Brothers. It was about the early days of European basketball with the likes of Vlade Divac, Drazen Petrovic, and Toni Kukoc, among others. It was phenomenal, perhaps the best in the series thus far. I remember the dawn of the Euro invasion with the aforementioned names in the late 80's. Add the drama of war torn Yugoslavia and its factions of Croats and Serbs and you have an extremely compelling story that I knew nothing about. Do yourself a favor and watch it.

The Bizniz, Volume 4, Issue 6

Latest standings in college football pick 'em:

Hill: 95-9 overall (3-3 upsets), last week 15-0 (1-0)
Chesh: 87-17 overall (3-8 upsets), last week 12-3 (0-2)

My helmet sticker for last week goes (for the second time) to Denard Robinson, Michigan QB (10-16, 277, 3 td's passing/19 carries, 217, 2 td's rushing). Dude continues to put up video game numbers on a top 25 team. Big challenge this upcoming week with rival Michigan State coming to the Big House. Chesh went with LaMichael James, Oregon RB (31 carries, 257, 3 td's).

This week's picks:

#6 Nebraska 38
Kansas State 21
Chesh: Nebraska 34 K-St 24

#21 Oklahoma State 48
La-Lafayette 17
Chesh: Okla St 48 La-Laf 12

#1 Alabama 27
#20 South Carolina 18
Chesh: Bama 35 S. Car 17

Indiana 21
#2 Ohio State 40
Chesh: Ohio St 38 IU 21

#3 Oregon 65
Washington State 17
Chesh: Oregon 59 Wash St 17

Toledo 20
#4 Boise State 48
Chesh: Boise 44 Toledo 17

Wyoming 20
#5 TCU 37
Chesh: TCU 44 Wyoming 10

#8 Auburn 37
Kentucky 24
Chesh: Auburn 34 Kentucky 28

Oregon State 23
#11 Arizona 35
Chesh: Arizona 31 Ore St 27

#10 Utah 36
Iowa State 24
Chesh: Utah 27 Iowa St 19

#13 Arkansas 27
Texas A&M 32*
Chesh: Ark 27 TAMU 14

#9 LSU 21
#12 Florida 34*
Chesh: Florida 26 LSU 17

#24 Florida State 36*
#14 Miami 33
Chesh: Miami 28 FSU 17

USC 24
#18 Stanford 30
Chesh: USC 27 Stanford 21

Game of the Week
#16 Michigan State 29
#17 Michigan 30*
Chesh: Mich 38 Mich St 36

Minnesota 18
#19 Wisconsin 37
Chesh: Wisc 48 Minn 27

San Jose State 21
#23 Nevada 50
Chesh: Nevada 43 SJSU 6

Colorado 27
#22 Missouri 35
Chesh: Mizzou 27 Colo 13

Purdue 23
#25 Northwestern 30
Chesh: NW 31 Purdue 17

Non Top 25 Game
UCLA 28
Cal 24
Chesh: UCLA 36 Cal 27

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Movie review: The Social Network. Like everyone else in an industrialized country, I'm on Facebook (and I wouldn't be surprised if some aborigines are on Facebook via some kind of ultra-wi-fi and homemade computers). It connects people. I've caught up with so many friends via Facebook. MySpace was cool but it was just about maxing out your friends, even if you didn't know the people (I had about 500 friends at my peak on MySpace and I knew probably 50 of those; I think that was fairly typical), and checking out underground music. Facebook is more about connecting with friends and connecting often. This movie depicts the creation of Facebook in 2003 and it's an absolutely fascinating ride. For anyone thinking, "Man I wish I'd have thought of that" (which I have before), make no mistake-Facebook was started by GENIUSES. Mark Zuckerberg and his crew were all brilliant computer science dudes (and they were all students at Harvard). No normal person could've pulled it off. The performances were outstanding, particularly Jesse Eisenberg who portrays founder Mark Zuckerberg. He pulls off the neurotic, semi-tortured genius perfectly. He deserves some serious Oscar consideration. Director David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, Benjamin Button) is known for amazing visuals and aesthetic style and he brings that rep to this movie, which is a decided departure from his previous work in tone and tenor. But it's very cool to have a biopic type movie with the creative eye of someone of Fincher's ilk. Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails, one of my favorite bands of high school) brings a likewise unique and unexpected flair to the music of the film. Dope. This movie is outstanding. It is so gripping to see how the events unfolded in the creation of a.) a giant company we all know and b.) a giant company started just 7 years ago. Justin Timberlake is a great creep as Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster and one of the founding fathers of Facebook. Andrew Garfield is also excellent as Eduardo Saverin, Zuckerberg's best friend at Harvard and co-founder of Facebook. Pay particular attention to the final scene of the movie where we get a feel for Zuckerberg's state of mind, even as a billionaire: a poignant and painful scene hearkening to the movie's opening sequence. Grade: A-.

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.