2011 NFL Season, Week 10 Predictions

Week 10, the most difficult week of the year thus far, if you ask me.  There are a number of very interesting games on tap for this Sunday.  This schedule should make for some pretty good television drama.  This will truly be a shake-out weekend.

This is not a bye-week.  All 32 teams have been or will be in action.  The first game went down on Thursday night, and I think you all know that Carson Palmer won that game in fairly spectacular fashion for the Oakland Raiders.  Of course, I am too late to the betting window for that game, so here is my slate of picks.

1. Bills @ Cowboys is an interesting match of two fading teams.  Most experts expect the Cowboys to prevail because the Bills are fading-out.  Believe me, they are not the only ones fading-out.  At the moment, the Bills are ahead of the Cowboys on total-defense and total-offense based on points.  I am going to have to roll with that, picking the Bills against the Cowboys' home-field advantage.
2. Titans @ Panthers.  The Titans are fading, and they are struggling to score points now.  The Panthers are getting better, and they have not struggled much offensively, due to the horsepower Cam Newton provides.  I am taking the Panthers based on better scoring offense and home field.
3. Texans @ Bucs is a pretty easy pick if you ask me.  The Bucs are struggling in many ways.  The Texans are beginning to hit on all cylinders.  I am taking the Texans on general superiority.
4. Jaguars @ Colts.  The Colts have transformed from a an aerial circus offense directed by Peyton Manning to an erstwhile power-running team under Curtis Painter.  The problem is that they can't run.  The Colts are 27th in points scored, a place they never dwell.  Now the Jags are dead-last in points scored, but they also feature the #8 defense by points.  Honestly, if the Colts are going to win one this year, this might be the game, but I don't think they can score enough to win against the #8 defense.
5. Cardinals @ Eagles is a big mismatch, and the Eagles have home-field also.  The Eagles are anything but the dream team, but the Cardinals are a whole lot worse, especially on the offensive line.
6. Saints @ Falcons is the first meeting between these NFC South rivals this year.  One team will exit this match-up a contender, the other team will suffer damage to their playoff standing.  If you ask me this is the toughest game to pick on the entire board.  I almost punted by saying "Pick'em".  However, the Falcons are missing their crucial Left-Tackle Sam Baker.  He is out with a back injury.  I think this will be the difference.  I take the Saints.
7. Rams @ Browns is a match-up of small-fries, and it is very difficult to pick because of that.  Most experts believe the Rams have to be favored because the Browns are suffering the #30 ranked defense against the run.  The Rams have a good line (for the run, at least) and Steven Jackson.  The reason for the Browns defensive problems is obvious.  They have not mastered team defense.  Their gap-discipline breaks down quickly.  They over-pursue a lot.  I am leery of this choice because the Brown are ranked higher than the Rams in points scored and points allowed, but I will make the homer-choice and pick my Rams.
8. Redskins @ Dolphins features the DOA Redskin offense against a newly resurgent Dolphin defense.  I just don't believe the Redskins can score enough to win in this game.  I take the Dolphins and their home field advantage.
9. Broncos @ Chiefs features my son, Tim Tebow, against the little girl with the curl. I don't think I have ever seen a Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde team quite like these Kansas City Chiefs.  When they are good, they are very, very good.  When they are bad, they are horrid.  This is the most inconsistent football team in the entire NFL.  They just laid a stinker against the Dolphins last week, and I cannot pick them with any degree of comfort this week.  I think Tebow wins again.
10. Steelers @ Bengals.  Quick reality check for you:  Did you know the Bengals are currently the #1 seed in the AFC tournament at this stage of the season?  They have the #3 ranked defense, and they have a rookie QB/WR tandem that is the best in NFL history.  I think the Bengals are going to step up this week and make a political statement at home.
11. Ravens @ Seahawks seems like a mismatch, but we have seen the Ravens look exhausted after victory over the Steelers before this season.  I worry about this match up because of the tremendous home field advantage the Seahawks enjoy in Qwest Field.  However, the Seahawks are a vastly inferior football team when compared to the Ravens.  I still believe the Ravens are the most powerful football team in the AFC.  I am taking the Ravens.
12. Lions @ Bears is a really pesky match-up.  Those Bears... those fricken' pesky Bears...  They don't seem set to do anything this season, but they hang around and upset people who should beat them.  I believe the Lions are a vastly better team, so I am taking the Lions, but I will be monitoring this one closely.
13. Giants @ 49ers is the game of the week if you ask me.  I doubt the Saints and the Falcons can match up with the Packers.  For some reason, I expect the Packers' chief rival for the NFC crown to emerge from this football game.  It seems like old times.  The Giants and the 49ers were once a premiere match up back in the 1980s and early 1990s.  Now it is again.  This game could go either way, but I expect the 49ers to prevail because of their [H]ardcore defense.  Did you know that the 49er defense is #1 in the league by points allowed.  Furthermore, Matt Millen says they have the best front-seven in the league.  Expect a low-scoring brutal grudge-match reminding us all of the 1990 NFC championship game.
14. Patriots @ Jets is a rematch, and the final meeting between these two in the regular season.  In the first game, the Patriots prevailed 30-21.  I do not believe the Patriots have what it takes to sweep the Jets, and not on their home field.  I am taking the Jets.
15. Vikings @ Packers is another mis-match.  I am taking the Packers in the easiest choice on the board.

187.2 and the week without a Bod Pod

The score a few moments ago was 187.2 English pounds on the Tanita scale.  The digital read-out wavered between 187.0 and 187.2 several times before rounding up, as it always does.  Let's presume that I am 187.1, and the 2/10ths digital display simply cannot indicate that fact.

The Bod Pod would place me somewhere 186.2-186.25 this morning.  That is without any special prep.  I did not do an extensive areobic workout last night.  I did not do 30 minutes in the saunas at 24 Hour Fitness.  I did not purge my intestines with Magnesium Citrate.   An official prep for the Bod Pod would put me lower this morning.

I mention all this, because this is the end of another two week Bod Pod cycle, and I have officially missed the test.  It was a tough week of finishing Jury Duty and trying to catch up at work after 8 days out of the office.  I never found a spare moment between 9:00am and 5:00pm to call the California Health and Longevity Institute to make an appointment.

I mention all of this because two weeks ago, my body weight was 195.7 pounds on the Bod Pod scale. The indication is that I have lost some 9.45 pounds in the past two weeks.  This is shocking.  When last I blogged on this subject, we were speaking of the point of inflection.  We were speaking of that moment when my body weight would cease decreasing, and begin increasing... hopefully with lean-mass only.  Low-and-behold:  we have a massive 9.45 pound decrease in gross body weight at the end of this cycle.

God only knows what this did to my Body Fat Percentage (BFP).  I wish I knew.  I bitterly regret not having a test this week.  It might have been a dandy. Presuming that this was all fat weight, my body fat would have dropped from 44.56 pounds to 35.11 pounds.  35.11 / 186.25 = 18.85%.  This is astounding.  I might actually have moved the check-box to Healthy territory, and I might be just 1.85% away from my final and ultimate medical goal.

This is all the more shocking because I have largely abandoned the aerobics machines that have brought be most of the distance.  I only walked on the tread mill once last week.  I only got on the bike twice last week.  I only got on the Elliptical Cross-Trainer once last week.  I only did the Olympic Rowing Machine twice last week.

To make matters more interesting, I did ZERO CrossFit workouts last week.  Now why the limited amount of work?  Because I encountered a substantial training injury to my right shoulder doing head-stand push-ups last Saturday at the CrossFit gym.

I did train last week.  I did a dumbbell workout with Aaron on Thursday, and I did a killer WOD routine here at the apartment with my ROM machine and some Kettlebells that I have recently purchased.  Those were brutal workouts.  My heart rate went over 170 during the Kettlebell swing, I am sure.

I am going to add one more piece of complexity to the picture for you:  I have fallen in love with the Del Taco Macho Bacon and Egg Burrito all over again.  According to one source, this burrito contains approximately 1,030 kcal per shot.  That's a load of kcal energy, buddy.

Yet at the same time all of this has been going on, I know my strength has been increasing.  I am officially swinging, cleaning, and rowing the 20 KG kettlebell, doing orbits with 16 kg, and doing the Turkish Get Up with the 8 KG bell.

The Kettlebell has become my new obsession, and a powerful one at that.  If you were to read Enter the Kettlebell! by Pavel Tsatsouline (an August 23, 1969 Virgo guy from Russia) you will find that a simple regime consisting of 5 minutes of Kettlebell Swings and 5 minutes of Turkish Get Ups done once every other day is all he recommends for a beginner.  Don't count reps, go for 5 solid minutes with good form.  He claims that is enough to get your strength moving northward and your body fat moving southward.

Evidently, the Kettlebell Swing and the TGU are the two master exercises in the Kettlebell regime.  They are just as important in Kettlebell training as the Deadlift and Squat are in the Powerlifter's regime.  These are the two exercises a Kettlebell student must master and perform all the time.

Further, this two exercise regime will trigger plenty of fat loss without "the dishonor" of aerobic exercise.  Pavel is very derisive of those metro-sexual machines.  Men should be playing with cannonballs, not girly bikes and treadmills.  The comrade-ladies should also be using Kettlebells to meet their fitness needs.

It sounds preposterous, I know.  That just can't be enough work to get the job done.  However, in this week of recovery from injury, I seem to have inadvertently proven his point.  Now, I did more than that.  There were other Kettlebell exercises.  Further, there was the good 'ole ROM machine.  However, the Kettlebells in my living room were the big, big, big change item.
I am in love with Kettlebells!

How 'bout that Tebow II?!?!?

As I have often said, Tim Tebow is the son I never had.  That's my boy!

You would expect me to comment a lot more often about him because of that, but objectively speaking, I have not.  Why is that?  Primarily because I have been trying to keep a civil tongue in my head.  If I blogged on this subject every time I felt the impulse, you'd get at least one hard rant every day.

There is a great deal of Tebow-baiting going on out there in the media, and it isn't because the members of the media hate Tim.  They bait the line for both Tebow-haters and Tebow-fans  because doing so is absolutely fantastic for ratings.  I let them sucker me into the dummy-debate, or should we call it a tebate, during the run up to the 2010 draft.  I felt pretty stupid for being suckered into media-swirl after the fact.  I was great for the ratings, but it didn't do me much good.

Understand that no matter what Tebow does in terms of Pro achievements, there will be Erhardt-Perkins purists who will always hate this kid.  Likewise, there will always be scientific-materialist-atheists who will always hate this kid.  They don't even care what the kid does on the field.

On the other hand, there will be those (like Jack Youngblood me) on the other side of the fence who see one hell of a competitor and an engine of victory in this kid.  No matter how many mistakes Tebow makes in the early going, we're not going to be shaken.  We know the kid is destined for greatness.  Just give him a chance to learn and develop and he will do fine.

Just remember this: Brett Favre made a ton of mistakes in his run towards franchise-QB status.  He had enough bad days that Mike Holmgren had to threaten to bench him several times before he got the message.  John Elway was considered a bust in his first two years in the league.  Elway did not enjoy success immediately, and he might just be the greatest QB in entire history of the league.  Peyton Manning didn't look fantastic in his first year as a Pro, but we all know he is another likely suspect when we talk about the greatest of all-time.

I really had to bite my tongue hard after Week-8.  We saw many "experts" in the media 'seriously' disusing whether the Tim Tebow experiment should be over and done with after one bad game.  I am sure this triggered tons and tons of social media activity and gave the media lots of attention.  In short, they got what they wanted out of it.  It was just another attempt to trigger another dummy debate, and I knew it, but it irked me nonetheless.

It's preposterous to think that either John Fox or John Elway are so uncertain, so unsteady, so wavering, so swaying as to give up on a young QB after just one bad game.  Nevertheless, this is how the media spun the story.  It was just a naked attempt to sprinkle a little napalm on Tebow's followers and get them to respond to the show.  This boosts the ratings.  Ergo, I didn't comment.

I am very pleased that Tebow railgunned the Oakland Raiders yesterday.  It hurt my prediction record, but I couldn't be happier about it.  You know I hate the Raiders.  You know I love Tebow.  When Tebow railgunned the Raiders...  well... let's just say that's one of the finest moments I've had during this otherwise bleak season.

Of course, we have to give Eddie Royal a lot of credit there also.  He had the game winning return, after all.  Tim gave Eddie the spotlight on Facebook just a little while ago, and he was right to do so.

I am fairly certain this is not the Broncos' final victory of the year.  I look forward to several more, and I expect Tim Tebow to continue to show improvement throughout the course of this season.

Rihanna is chosen by Esquire as the Sexist Woman Alive 2011

Hard to believe it has already been a year since Esquire Magazine declared Minka Kelly to be the Sexist Woman Alive (2010).  I guess it has been.

I blogged on the subject back in March of this year.  I have a pretty massive set of synastry scores vs. Ms. Kelly, according to Sirus 1.1.  I wouldn't care to deny that either.  It's not unusual for Virgos and Cancers to have a thing for each other.  It happens every day.  It is considered a 5 star match-up.

I have a strong hunch that this Esquire feature must be run by a 1966 Virgo born in close proximity to me.  He just went and selected another water-clan female who I have fairly substantial scores with.  This time it is the notorious, even infamous, Rihanna.

Rihanna is 23 year old woman born February 20th, 1988 in Saint Michael, Barbados.  She is a Pisces female if there ever was one.  For the record, my Synastry scores versus Rihanna are as follows:


 1. Romantic and Sexual Attraction:  167
 2. Similarity of Interests and Temperament:  171
 3. Mutual Success and High Achievement:  25
 4. Problem Solving, Communication, and Mutual Understanding:  113
 5. Mutual Kindness, Friendliness, Pleasantness, and Peace:  46
 6. Aggressiveness, Competition, Power, Success, or Violence:  163
 7. Adventurousness, Surprises, Disturbances:  53
 8. Shared Creativity, Imagination, and Inspiration:  128

As always, and for the record, any score above 150 is considered extremely strong.

Frankly the line-up of planets is more favorable than the scores indicate.  It would be difficult for a test-blinded Astrologer to justify how low these scores are.  Her Moon is in Aries, conjuncted with mine.  Her Mars is located at 28 degrees Sagittarius, which forms a nearly perfect Trine with my Venus at 22 degrees Leo.  My Mars is located at 5 degrees Leo, forming a near perfect Trine with her Venus at 13 degrees Aries.  It is a criss-cross Mars-Venus Trine situation.  Fire, fire, fire baby!  The exception is the Sun sign, in which case we have an opposition, the most powerful angle for attraction.

It's hard to justify the score of 167.  Am I disputing this score?  In this case, the answer is no.  I am comfortable with the verdict of 167.  I wouldn't care to move it higher.  I might want to move it lower, but that might be a dishonest move.

Frankly, those scores pale in comparison to Minka Kelly's.  For the record, you can see those scores here. Rihanna's scores can't hold a candle to those of the theoretically perfect Pisces female born 3/12/1986.

To say that I am ambivalent about Rihanna would be the understatement of the century.  I have spoken many times about the love-hate-love ambivalence astrological opposites experience toward one another.  This is certainly one of those cases for me.

On the positive side, I have to admit that I love Rihanna's music.  It is a guilty pleasure for a Heavy Metalist like me.  I can't seem to make it through the day without listening to Rude Boy at least 10 times.  This is probably my favorite song.  That may be an understatement.  I am steadily wearing out the CD in my car stereo.  I am playing it to death.  For the record here is that video:



On the negative side, you will never find a Pisces girl at her naughty, nasty, bad worst like this one is.  Consider some quotation from the Esquire article declaring Rihanna the Sexist Woman Alive (2011).

She grabs her own radiant ass--she handles it, offers it--like it's a rump roast.  She squats and spreads her legs, settles a hand between them, where it stays. Caresses her breasts.  She masturbates a dancer with the help of cane.  She pretends to go down on the keyboardist.
Rihanna doesn't really dance... Altogether it amounts to choreographed oozing.
She picks a member of the audience to have simulated sex with.  She guides the subject over to the platform in the middle of the stage.  She commands the subject to lie back.  She straddles the subject.  She grinds.  This part is not simulated.
... She is the indisputable champion of carnal pop.  At this moment, in this room, she is the essence of Fuck.

This dude is not going to get high marks for his prose poetry, but he does capture the essence of the phenomenon.  She is the next closest thing to a Porn Queen dancing at a strip joint.  Like I said a moment ago:  This is a Pisces woman at her naughty, nasty, bad worst.

As reserved, wholesome, conservative, and retrained as a Virgo woman is, that's how exhibitionist, dissolute, sensual and carnal a Pisces woman is going to be.  It is a perfect Matter-Antimatter dichotomy.

Grant that this is a relatively extreme case, but it is hyperbole that makes a very fine point.

I still find it bizarre and offensive that we polar opposites attract one another as powerfully as we do, but I cannot deny that we do.  Perhaps it is because we Virgos are not quite as wholesome as we pretend to be, and the Pisces are not quite the sensual party animals they pretend to be.  Perhaps we are just trying to balance-out by combining our strengths.  I don't know...

Ben Roethlisberger (a Pisces) was reportedly relieved to be busted by the Comish (who is himself a Pisces guy) because it relieved him of the obligation of being BIG BEN:  The hardest drinking, rootenist-tootenist, most carnal bad-boy the world has ever known.  He said he got caught up in an image he was never comfortable with, and this reputation forced him into things he was never comfortable with.

You have to wonder if Rihanna isn't in exactly the same spot Ben Roethisberger was at this point in her career.  Perhaps she isn't quite the carnal monstrosity she pretends to be, but she is caught in a game of "Can you top this!"

Maybe not.  Oh well, it was just a thought.

2011 NFL Season, Week 9 Predictions

Week 9 features a bunch of easy choices, and a select handful of very, very difficult dilemmas.  I found myself stuck hanging on twin horns in several of these match-ups.

Let's skip the easy ones and focus on the tough matches.

1. Bucs @ Saints is the first of the tough matches.  The Bucs already shocked the Saints once this season in Tampa.  However, the Saints have them in the Super Dome this time around.  Unfortunately, Drew Brees' protection is breaking down around him.  Walking into the Ram game, the Saints had already allowed 13 sacks.  My Rams scored 6 sacks against Brees and harassed him all game long.  The Bucs have a good and young defensive line who can get after it, which means more problems for Brees.  Still, I think the Saints awesome homefield advantage will help carry them to a get-healthy victory.  This is not an easy choice, and I think it can go the other way,
2. Broncos @ Raiders.  Some think this is a laugh-in victory for the Raiders.  I can't understand why.  Surely, nothing about the Bronco football team is working with a high degree of efficiency.  The Raiders are better both defensively and in the special teams.  However, when it comes to offense... well... let's just say that the Raiders have their problems with the QB position as well.  I would like to see a show of hands:  How many of you believe Carson Palmer will truly be ready this weekend?  I don't.This is a hard game to figure out.  If Tebow goes ballistic, the Raiders will have a difficult time out-scoring them.  However, I think I too will have to pick the Raiders.
3. Giants @ Patriots is very interesting match up of two lesser playoff contenders.  Most authorities are expecting a solid victory by the Patriots at home.  I am pleased to announce my upset special of the week.  Understand that the Patriots have the #32 defense in the league against the pass, and Eli is passing very, very well right now.  Understand that Tom Brady, just like Drew Brees, is having issues with his protection right now.  Understand that the Giant defense features a very mean pass rush right now.  I think this spells out a recipe for upset.  I am taking the Giants.  The Patriots are the great pretenders of 2011.
4. The Ravens @ The Steelers is the NFL game of the week.  Now we have come to the most difficult game of the week to pick.  The Steelers' offense is playing extremely well right now, but the Ravens' defense is elite &devastating.  The Steeler defense is playing very well right now, but they have a plethora of injury problems to cope with.  The Raven offense was dying for a little while, but they seemed to find themselves and right the ship in the 2nd half against the Cardinals.  This is a very, very, very complex picture.  Most authorities do not believe the Ravens can sweep the Steelers.  I do.  I'm rolling with the Ravens.
5. Bears @ Eagles is pisser of a game, matching two very inconsistent teams.  Forgive me, but I am not feeling as dreamy as a lot of analysts out there.  I have no where near the level of confidence in the Eagles that many seem to have developed.  I do think the Bears can beat them.  However, if the Eagles don't turn the ball over, they should score at least one more point than the Bears do.  Logically, I have to chose the Eagles, but this is the most uncomfortable pick of the week.  What happens if the Eagle turnover machine cranks up the horsepower in this game?

189.4 and I feel cold

So it's a bit late for this sort of entry, but the score this morning was 189.4.  It would seem that I am now officially below the 190 point, and it looks like this is gonna stick.  If it does, this will constitute the lowest fixed weight of my adult life.

CrossFit is having an impact.  I nailed a CrossFit workout on 6 of the 7 days of this past week.  I kicked it off with the Dark Horse CrossFit group on Sunday hit four in a row on Wednesday.

On Thursday, recovery from Diarrhea and my evening attempt to get out of jury duty caused me to miss both the 4:30pm and 5:30pm classes.  I did an old-fashioned bike/elliptical workout for 45 minutes, netting 617 kcal, so Thursday was not a day of rest.

I went straight back to work on Friday 5:30pm, nailing my best workout of the week.  I was back in the gym 14 hours later for the 9:30am class this morning.  Unfortunately, today's workout was the worst of the week.  My own personal jump rope snapped on the first exercise of the "Buy-In" phase.  This was an ill-omen.  In the workout phase, we attempted to perform hand-stand push-ups.  This advanced calisthenic was categorically out of the question.  It killed my right shoulder.  I might need Dr. Bachner to O-Scope my shoulder before I can do a workout like that.

Easy come, easy go.  You win some and you lose some.  This morning's travesty was one bad workout among many good ones.

The upshot is complicated:

1. I am working out a lot less than in past months.  The clock-time of the WOD seldom exceeds 20 minutes, and is often less.
2. The intensity of that workout is vastly higher than in past months.  A typical WOD is more intense than even a full-cycle ROM workout.  If you work hard at it, you will be out of gas by the end of those 20 minutes.
3. I spend a lot more time in recovery than working out.  I need to spend time cooling off, stretching, warming up, on the roller, in a hot shower, in the sauna, getting a foot massage, etc.
4. I was forced to begin a second cycle of LG Sciences Trifecta stack.  This is a prohormone stack that is the next best thing to illegal steroids.  It should be noted that Trifecta is totally legal and over-the-counter at your local Vitamin Shoppe.  It works almost as well as Dianabol, according to some experts I know.  Pink Magic wasn't cutting the mustard.  It just wasn't possible to recover between workouts, and sustain the intensity of CrossFit without Trifecta.  I really appreciate what Trifecta did for me last summer now.
5. Even with Trifecta, the aches and pains are rife.  No pain no gain.  Usually, where there is pain, there is gain.  I must be doing something right.  I am absolutely improving in all of the different exercises, especially the 200 meter and 400 meter sprints.
6. The girlies are checking me out in the CrossFit gym.  I caught two of them examining me as I was doing pull-ups the other day.  Pull-ups really show my wing-span.  Both of these girls looked away with a degree of embarrassing when I caught them. There were big glowing smiles on their faces prior to that moment.
7. This morning, the ambient air temperature here in Woodland Hills/Canoga Park was around 50 degrees.  I felt the cold very sharply.  In fact, I felt it all night long.  I now lack the insulating fat layer that used to protect me from such mild cold weather.  This reminds me of my time in Europe, immediately after Army Basic and AIT.  After dropping to 192 pounds, I found myself in Mannheim West Germany (when there was a West Germany) right around the time when the weather began turning cold.  That first winter in Germany almost killed me.  You take a California kid, strip him of his protective fat layer, station him in the snow, and I guarantee you he will freeze.  

I hesitate to even mention this, but the guys at work decided to roll out the Halloween video from 2010, and they were showing it yesterday.  The court room was dark this Friday, so I was back at work for a single day.  This video captured me in all my glory at 330 pounds.  That was more than 140 pounds ago.

A certain Pisces dude named Eric (3/12/1981) decided to show me the video on his iPhone.  Just as many have commented, he said I am now unrecognizable.  Although I have known Eric for some four years now, he mentioned that it is hard to believe I was ever that large.

Looking at the video sent cold chills down my spine, and made my hair stand on end.  How did I ever live and survive at that weight?  I don't know how I was able to move around at all and carry that weight on my bad knee.  No wonder I can run now.

Someday, after taking some high def video of me performing a CrossFit WOD, I may put that Halloween video up for display here.  I'll put it side-by-side with the CrossFit video so you can get a before and after look.  You will find it shocking, I am sure.

Whatcha gonna do when Luckamania runs wild on you?

With his helmet off, he looks like the werewolf of London in full beast-mode.  I think it is pretty safe to say that he is the most hyped candidate in entire history of the NFL Draft.  He also happens to be a September 12th 1989 Virgo.  Whatcha gonna do when Luckamania runs wild on you?

In all seriousness folks, I do not recall a single draft prospect who got this kind of universal acclaim more than a year in advance of his hypothetical draft date.  The closest thing to it was probably the Hershel Walker case, but even the hype surrounding Walker wasn't this great.

I say hypothetical draft date because we should remember that Luck is not yet out of eligibility.  We are presuming he will enter the 2012 draft.  He could remain at Stanford for the 2012 college season.  Everyone in the world of sports will decry that last statement as absolutely crazy, but it is factually true.

As sure as we are all sitting here, we know Andrew Luck will be the #1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.  Who gets him is one of the most hotly debated subjects on Sports Talk Radio.  It is a popular subject.  Callers love to discuss this topic.  Not a single day goes by without 20 radio jocks discussing who will win the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.

Through the first 8 weeks on the 2011 NFL season, there was plenty of discussion surrounding the Suck for Luck conspiracies that might be lurking and unfolding out there in the NFL.  Just how many teams were willing to pack-it-in and throw the entire 2011 season so they can secure their franchise's future by selecting Andrew Luck?  Incidentally, the big supposition there is that you can secure your franchise's entire future by selecting Andrew Luck.

Not a single bad word is spoken about Andrew Luck.  Nobody has anything critical to say about Luck.  All the QB alums from the NFL love this kid to death.  Steve Young, Trent Dilfer, John Elway, Joe Theisman, you name it:  They all say absolutely fabulous things about this kid.  They all seem to believe he is the best QB prospect since Peyton Manning or John Elway.

The one guy I haven't heard comment on Luck (yet) is Kurt Warner.  I look forward to his opinion with great interest.

What do I think about Andrew Luck?  Well... before saying it let me throw down a few provisos.

• You know how much I hate the entire concept of drafting a QB in the first round.
• You know how much I detest the notion drafting a QB at the very top of the first round.
• You know I rail against these ideas.
• You know I would rather take an offensive or defensive tackle with the top pick.
• You know how often these QBs go bust.
• As Jesus said, beware when all men speak well of you.
• Luck is a bit overrated, but it is hard not to be overrated when you are the most hyped candidate in the entire history of the NFL draft.

With all those cautions stated, I have to say, the hype is mostly legit.  The kid does look like the legitimate, genuine article.  I have not seen a flaw in his game.  I would have to take him at the top of the 2012 NFL draft, if I was the GM with that pick.  I would sweat the risk plenty, but I would have to take him.  

That's saying an awful lot about the kid when you consider how much I hate taking QBs in the first round. 

The kid finally made me comfortable with the hype during the very recent USC vs Stanford game.  USC fielded a very game and very talented team that was all-in.  They were absolutely determined to beat Stanford.

They jammed up Stanford's power running attack in the early going and broke out to 20-10 lead.  At that point all the news on the football wire stated that Stanford was in trouble.  The longest winning streak in the country was in jeopardy. USC was beating them down.

We all knew what was going to happen.  Stanford would have to abandon the run (for a time) and throw the football to catch up.  At that moment the thought on my mind was this:  "Okay kid, here we are.  This is the biggest moment of your life so far.  If you make it happen here, there will be no limit to the praise you'll garner.  If you fail here, critics will surface."

Luck started throwing the football all over the field.  Before you had time to get up and take a piss, Stanford scored a pair of touchdowns and the score was 24-20 Cardinal.  Luck disintegrated a 10 point Trojan lead with little or no difficulty.

Boy was I impressed.  He answered the clarion call like a champ.

The game wasn't over.  It turned into one hell of a shootout.  You know what happened.  Stanford won 56-48 in triple-overtime.  Every time Stanford needed Luck to show up, he did.  He had one interception late in the game, but he came right back from that to lead the Cardinal on a game tying drive.  Strangely, it made him look even better.  The kid leads a charmed life.

He impressed the hell out of me in that game, as did his counterpart Matt Barkley.  Incidentally, Matt Barkley just happens to be a September 8th, 1990 Virgo kid.

As we hear endless talk about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ... err... the 2012 drafting of Andrew Luck, just remember, there is risk in every prospect.  Nobody is a can't-miss kid.  This kid is just a very good risk.