Throwing Money Around (Week 8)

$9,850…

After successfully picking college game after college game, the damned NFL screwed me.  Damn you NFL… Damn you.  I’m going to have to stick to the college game, I guess… maybe throw in one NFL game if it looks obvious.  Unfortunately the “obvious” NFL picks are completely backwards.  So, here we go again, throwing more money around and trying to creep back above the ten grand starting point.

Prepare to watch me lose money.

Throwing Money Around (Week 7)

$10,350!

Finally, after seven weeks I’ve managed to eek just slightly higher than I started by going 5-0 in the college game last week, then tanking a thousand dollar bet on the NFL.  You won’t hear any complaints over here.  Sorry for not hitting the usual Thursday deadline this week, but a fairly nasty virus had me sidelined… I’m the Kellen Winslow of online bet predictions.

So, enough pounding my chest and discussing the microscopic monsters invading my body… it’s 10:05!  I’ve got to hurry!

“That One” in ‘08!

It’s nearly impossible to describe last night’s presidential debate as “thrilling” or “exciting” in any way. After a rather large dinner, I found myself often struggling to even stay awake during certain aspects of the tedious and uninspiring performances from both candidates. I’ll say that in hindsight Senator Obama did pull out the victory, but not because of his usual eloquence or flair… but because John McCain appeared flat and uninterested. However, there was one moment of the debate that caused me to take notice. As I sat on my couch, nodding off from a combination of too much dinner and a large gulp of NyQuil, I heard two words that shocked me back into life.

“There was an energy bill on the floor of the Senate loaded down with goodies, billions for the oil companies, and it was sponsored by Bush and Cheney. You know who voted for it? You might never know. That one!”

Cue the Lee Greenwood…

I take a lot of shots at the Joe Six-Packs of the world (to use the parlance of our times) on this blog, but I want to make something clear. My shots at these folks aren’t because of who they are, it’s almost always because of what they do. It’s the flag-waving-until it isn’t convenient crowd that I can’t stand. The “Average Joe” that wants everything they can get, cheers every war and demands every handout while refusing to actually sacrifice a thing to get it. It’s the guy that owns a giant SUV and bitches about how he can’t afford to fuel it, then demands that the government “fix the problem,” while constantly complaining that the government can’t do anything right. It’s the guy that advocates fighting wars all around the world, then throws a fit when someone suggests he pony up a little tax money to actually PAY for it. It’s the guy that wants government to “stay out of my life” when it comes to taxes and guns, but wants government to “get involved” when it comes to gay rights and civil liberties. If that’s your definition of “Joe Six Pack,” theny yes… I’m not a fan.

However, growing up the product of a coal family, I’ve heard my fair share of REAL stories of what “Joe Six Pack” can do. How the power of many, the willingness to sacrifice and the idea that we can band together to make a statement more important than ourselves can change the world for the better… and forever. In this “me first” generation, we never get the pleasure of hearing about the power of the union, the strength of the average man and the capability of a united band of brothers taking action to shed light on injustice in this world. Today I saw an article that restored my faith in the belief that not only can it still happen, but it does happen.

Now, this won’t change the world. It won’t redefine policy or bring about revolution in the streets. But here’s what it will do… it will make us talk. We’re talking about it right now, in fact. It’s an example that the real “Joe Six Packs” of this nation (not the politicians that so artfully portray themselves as such) still have a voice. And sometimes, just sometimes, that voice can band together and be heard echoing from the deepest hills of West Virginia, across the country and around the world. Below I’m going to share with you an article take from a local WV news affiliate that has puffed out my chest, caused my heart to double in size and most importantly made me as proud of my home state, my family and my roots as I have been all day. So to those posturing, fake “Average Joes” that grace our television each night, I’d ask you “Do you have the balls to look 440 coal miners in the eyes and call yourself Joe Six Pack this morning?”

Throwing Money Around (Week 6)

Wow, a whole week without a post. Yes, I’ve been slacking lately, but cut me a break. I’ve been sick as a dog with some kind of nasty cold. Yes, I saw the debate, and I’ll have some insight on that later, but for now I’m going to rock up my weekly recap of all things football and make my guaranteed-to-be-wrong picks for this coming week.

After wagering a small fortune last week, I managed to come up $500 to the positive. The college picks turned out nicely, but apparently I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to betting on professional football. This is the opposite of most weeks, when I seem to have success in the pro ranks, but fail at the college game. If there’s one lesson to be taken from all of this it’s that I’m just not very good at doing two things at once. So, here I sit at $8,350… inching my way back toward even, week by week. So, I’ll try again… surely this will be the week where my fortune is made.

Tackle Football Recap/Throwing Money Around (Week 5)

Sorry folks, delays got me all sidetracked this week and I wasn’t able to get the footblog up and running at the usual time. Sorry about that, I promise to be back on schedule next week, hopefully with another live blog of Monday Night Football. So now, a short recap of last week’s action before we get to this week’s gambling: Last week would have been a pretty successful run, had it not been for the awesome power of Penn State and the weenie behavior of Fresno State. However, in the long run I came out $250 to the positive. Nothing quite like wagering thousands of dollars and eventually winning $250… but as the last few weeks have proven, it could have been worse. So here I am, with $7,850. Considering how many complete blowout days I’ve had this year that kind of change really isn’t as bad as I would have figured I’d be at this point. First, your recap from this past weekend (condensed for your pleasure):

Peace in our Lifetime

It has come to my attention, and to the attention of anyone reading this blog regularly, that the venom being spewed in the comments section is getting pretty heavy from both right and left. Now, I’m not going to dare suggest that I’m not part of the problem… I most certainly am. I’m in there with the rest of you slugging it out and gnashing teeth. However, this is my pledge to you… no more.

Now that’s not to say that we can’t all disagree and that we can’t share our opinions, lively debate is what makes the internet (and on a larger scale our nation) so fantastic. Without the free-flowing exchange of ideas we would still be cooking what we killed over a fire in our caves. But we’re all really a nation of people that sincerely believe that we have the right ideas to move our country forward. To those of you that take the time to comment on these internet musings of mine I say thank you. It’s because of your passion and your interest in the future of our nation that we have the lives that we so often take for granted.

The Revolution that Almost Was: The Death of the Conservative

Yesterday while flipping through the dozen or so dailies that occupy my mornings and late afternoons, I came across a rather surprising piece from D Magazine, a headline that read “A Conservative for Obama.” Now, this is nothing new. While it isn’t exactly the norm, in any election you’re going to see people break party ranks and jump on board with the other side… however, this one was different. This wasn’t just a Regular Joe spouting off at the mouth; this was Wick Allison, one of the founders of National Review and a hand-picked pupil of William F. Buckley Jr. As far as high-profile conservatives go, you can’t really get much bigger names than Buckley and Goldwater.

Throwing Money Around (Week 4)

After slinging money around like a drunken sailor last week, I managed to nearly break even. While that’s certainly better than a loss, it’s really pretty disheartening to put that much effort into what amounts to a tie. However, I shall soldier on this week, putting my money where my mouth is and attempting to build on my remaining $7,600.

Now, if only one of my damned “locks” would pay off.

Who is Sarah Palin?

The pit bull, the hockey mom, the small-town mayor and the governor… all titles that John McCain’s VP choice has willfully attributed to herself in the early days of her campaign for the nation’s second highest office. Back in Alaska, many residents paint a very different picture. Before we hand the keys to the castle over to a still yet unvetted and unknown candidate from a state that most of us have never seen in person, it wouldn’t hurt to attempt to get a better idea of who this person really is.

We all know that Palin is the beauty queen, the basketball star and the all-around America’s Sweetheart, but what I find more interesting is exactly who the grown-up Sarah Palin turned into. Let’s not get lost in the glossy, baby-mamma Palin… let’s strip her down to Sarah Palin the politician.