I was a little busy last week and did not get a chance to write about my picks. Fortunately, I managed to get my picks done, and I was able to lead the group with ten. I am now in second place, and only two behind Jason. Granted, Gideon and Sean are also in second place, but at least we are not Jon, who is in last.
Underdog Special: Cleveland Browns (+6.0)
I am not doing well here. I missed the last two weeks, so hopefully the Browns can bring me some luck. I think a division rivalry game will probably be close, or at the very least that is what I have told myself.
Underdog Special Record: 2-7 (-$14.39)
Steelers Prediction: I believe the Steelers beat the Packers this week. Although, whenever I pick them, I think they lose, so maybe I should pick against them.
Steelers Prediction Record: 2-6
It seems the Big Ten has decided to suspend Jim Harbaugh from being on the sideline for the rest of the season, which starts tomorrow for the Penn State game. I do not like this move. So he can coach the team, but he is just not allowed to be the coach on Saturday? If Penn State beats them tomorrow, then it will be “well we did not have our coach.”
I do not think they will be able to prove that Harbaugh knew what Connor Stalions was doing, or that he ordered him to do it. The cheating gave Michigan an unfair advantage, but it also sounds like teams suspected it. So if they did not change their signs before playing Michigan, then that is their fault (if the TCU story is true, it sounds like they played the sign-stealing against them, and it helped them jump out to that lead). Obviously the Big Ten can hand down any punishment they want, this is not really some kind of innocent until proven guilty situation. I think they are using the integrity of competitiveness, or something like that. Something tells me the NCAA will also have a punishment.
This most likely means Jim Harbaugh will be done at Michigan. My guess is he heads to the NFL. Although, the NFL did force Jim Tressel to sit out the number of games he was suspended for at Ohio State when he tried to work as a consultant for the Colts. But that was a consultant, not sure an NFL team will want to have their head coach suspended to start the season.
It feels like people are finally starting to understand that any punishment doled out on the university, will make no sense. Bowl ban? That punishes the kids, who were most likely not involved. Reduction in scholarships? Okay, now it hurts the next coach since Harbaugh will be in the NFL. There is really no punishment that actually affects the people involved. I guess this is probably the best punishment. I mean, Harbaugh sitting at Champs Sports Bar watching Penn State beat his team tomorrow would be the ultimate punishment.
The NCAA needs to go to the headsets/receivers that the NFL uses. Yeah, I know they can be expensive, but these teams can afford it. Even the small schools, and if they cannot, then they should probably go down to FCS. I looked up the prices for these things, they are not crazy expensive. I mean compared to how much cash teams spend on everything else, and how much money they get from TV deals.
Oh well, I just hope Penn State wins tomorrow, and then Michigan beats Ohio State. So we can have three 11-1 teams…
