CURSEDCLEVELAND.COM

Friday Feb. 5, 2010

Well I only went 1-1 on championship weekend thanks to a half point. But I got the interception part right! And knew Favre was going to single handedly piss it away for Minnesota, so give me some credit.

As for the Championship, I think we’re due for a blow out. Too many close games in the last few years, a Cinderella team, and a story line that ain’t gonna mean shit because Dwight Freeny doesn’t play offense. It’s a single digit line and I say it’s going to be a two or three touchdown Colts win.

Indy -5 or 6 or whatever your local line is…

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Thursday Jan 21, 2010

Hmmm 1-3 again. But let’s be honest I had you all convinced I was going 4-0 right? And if not, well if you picked against me you went 3-1! Good for you glad I could help.

Hey, what’s the line on The Puppets tonight? I’ll take the Lakers to cover the spread whatever it is. Can’t go wasting a game in the West by losing to a team in the East.

Championship weekend has a pair of intriguing match ups. Vikings vs. Saints, and Brett Favre vs. every male ass on the Vikings sideline. He’s gonna slap them all. Those unsuspecting asses don’t stand a chance.

The line opened at NO -4 and moved to -3.5. Meaning the public is on the Vikes. After watching the Vikes demolish the Cowboys I’m more worried about them continueing to do well than I was before. But history tells me Favre can’t keep this up forever. AP hasn’t gone over 100 yards in 2 months!  Stop him and find a way to get a couple take aways in the passing game and this is a three touchdown win.  BRING THE WOOD!

I’d love to ride the green wave all the way to Miami, but I’m just not buying what Rex Ryan is selling. Great QBs belong in the Super Bowl and Manning should get there. It’s easier for me to believe that the Colts abuse the Jets, than the Jets can win this game outright. The gamblers always say, “If you don’t think an underdog can win outright, then don’t pick them.” So that’s the reason I’m taking the Colts -7

Saints -3.5, Colts -7

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Thursday Jan 14, 2010

Ok Let’s use our brains this week. Make the smart selections. Go 4-0 and move to 5-3 for the playoffs. Lots of teams still alive that I would love to root against, but rooting interests and gambling interests MUST remain separate.  New Orleans is my pick to win the Super Bowl. Do I want to see them blow out the Cardinals and reassure me that I made the right selection? Yes. Am I glad they get the Cardinals rather than the Packers? Yes. Am I a bit more worried about the Cardinals in round 2 than I was last week? Yes. I’m thinking if the Pack had won, the Saints would be less than 7 point faves. That being said there was only 1 close game last week, with double digits wins in the others. So where will the blowouts be this week? This will likely be one of them.

On to Colts and Ravens. Are the Ravens still underated after beating a horrible Pats team? Is Joe Flacco going to play better? Will the refs lets the Reavens D be aggressive? Can they keep Manning off the field so we get all those shots of him being a baby on the sideline? Will the Ravens score on defense? More than once? Are we giving too much play to the Colts decision making coming down the stretch? What’s to be made of their home losing streak in the division round? Or their win streak over Baltimore? Can some French guy really be counted on to make a play when it matters? Will he need to? Can the Ravens win the Super Bowl the way they are playing? No. Can the Colts? Yes and No. Will the Colts win? Probably. By 7?  I’m not convinced.

On to the Boys and the Purple Favres. We all know Favre’s self distruction is coming. When was the last time he met expectations in the playoffs? Is the answer to that question never? Super Bowl XXXI had the Packers as 14 point faves. Did they cover? No.  Super Bowl XXXII, Packers were 11.5 faves. They lost outright. Do we really think that his old ass is better now than he was a DECADE ago? Remember the interception to the Giants a few years back? It’s coming folks. Favre will make bonehead throws, the Vikes are not making the Super Bowl. Was Tavaris Jackson really the only thing wrong with this team? Childress is fully capeable of screwing this up alone. Dallas is on fire. Take the Cowboys!!!! This is the easiest pick of the year!

Lastly let’s look at the Jets and Chargers. The way that the Chargers strolled into the playoffs I would have thought this number would have been alot higher. They get by far the biggest playoff underdog/surprise and are only 7 point faves?!?!?! I hate the Chargers, I hate Philip Rivers, LT is a pussy, their defense isn’t great, many of their wins came by less than 4, they are due for a loss. Did I mention I hate them? But they get the Jets.  I’m surprised this line wasn’t double digits.

Saints -7, Baltimore +7 (thank you bodog!), Cowboys +3, chargers -7

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Wednesday Jan 13, 2010

Well that wasn’t good. 1-3 was dissapointing. I really should have gone with my research on the Dallas line and then I would have at least been 2-2. Just have to go 4-0 this weekend. Maybe I should start using performance enhancers like Mark McGwire.  Cause I’m not meeting expectations. Stay tuned for division round selections.

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Friday Jan 8, 2010

PLAYOFFS! We’re talking about playoffs?! That’s right Wild Card Weekend is finally here. (Tho not yet really until tomorrow.) As long as the lines don’t change in the next 24 hours I’m pretty satisfied with my decisions. Definitely some tough games to pick seeing how three of these games are rematches from week 17. Upon further calculation I’d like to correct myself. My playoff record last year was 10-1 (there’s only 11 games) The only one I missed was the Colts failing to cover. Remember how we all thought they were super dominant last year too? Then came along the Chargers. Speaking of San Diego, are the Chargers really as good as we think they are this year? Those two teams are seemingly as dominant as any in the league right now but are we really convinced they can win the SUPER BOWL? I’m not. That’s why I’m giving more credit to the NFC this year. The underdogs in the AFC just don’t have enough to be giant killers and there are a lot of good teams in the NFC this year. Pick between the Cowboys, Saints, Vikings Packers or Eagles. All good teams that could be this year’s champs. Lots of parody in the AFC is reflected in this week’s lines. Cincy put together a nice 10-6 season but are barely favored at home over a rookie QB.  In the showdown of former USC QBs I’m taking Carson Palmer. New England proved they are a good franchise/program by making the playoffs in a down year, but their downward path will continue, Welker is out! and (Brady has broken ribs) Have you seen the numbers on how important he(Wes) is? So I’m taking Baltimore. The NFC is where this gets hard. The GB/AZ game has dropped all the way to a pick em. So no one knows which way this one is going. AZ is a 1 point fave in some books so the inclination is to go with the home team, but all you have to do to win a PK is pick the winner. Green Bay is the better, (and healthier) team so they are the smart pick (even tho I’m rooting for Iowa boy Kurt Warner. ) As for Philly and Dallas, who knows. The line opened at Dallas -4.5 and has moved all the way to Dallas -3.5, don’t be surprised if you see it at 3 before kickoff. Las Vegas Sports Consultants have Dallas as a 6 point fave, but since the line is much lower than that, you got to think the boys will cover it. The smart pick is Dallas using this logic, but I think Dallas is only a 3.5 point fave. Making the half point a killer here. Go with Dallas -3.5 if you think it’s gonna be an easy Dallas win, go with Philly +3.5 if you think it will be a close one. So here’s what I am taking. Good Luck!

Cincy -2.5, Philly +3.5, Baltimore +3.5, Green Bay PK.

P.S. I’m taking the Saints to win it all. But think the Bengals might be a fun wager at 33-1

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Sunday January 3, 2010

A new year! A new season! And a new winning streak? My December 13th picks were not good. 1-2 to be exact. Bringing my CC record to 9-9. Might as well flip a coin at that rate. So I stayed away from picks for the holidays. Last year’s NFL playoffs were a 15-1 dominance for me, so I’ve eagerly awaited this year’s edition. Stay tuned to cursedcleveland.com for my wild card weekend winners.

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Thursday December 10, 2009

If there’s anything more crazy than the Chiefs and the Raiders both beating the Steelers it’s the end of the college football regular season. With so many conference titles still up for grabs, and the big rivalries that load the schedule: for handicappers… the last few weeks of the season can be a bigger train wreck than Tiger Wood’s last few weeks. So I did what Tiger should have done, and avoided trouble.  And I’m back at just the right time. The precious last few weeks of the NFL season. 13 weeks of sorting out who’s a pretender and who’s a contender leads to easy pickens.

I finished off the college football season with a 2-1 performance on Nov. 21. Which puts me at 8-7 so far during my time at CC.com Not fantastic but not terrible. So I’m ready to do some damage! (That sentence could have been just as effective if written, “I’m so ready to do some damage!”) On to the picks.

Cincy +6.5, Arizona -1.5, Baltimore -12.5

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Friday November 20, 2009

Ok this is not creative writing class! No More Jokes, no more stories no more fluff. Just picks!

Penn St -3, Kansas St +16.5, Florida International +45

I’ll say it know, the ceiling for this week’s selections is probably 2-1 __________________________________________________

Wednesday November 18, 2009

6-6!

If I had 6 ties to go with my 6 wins and 6 losses, well now,  then that would be something wouldn’t it. Maybe I should start throwing in some NBA picks. I could just pick against the Nets a few times a week and be good to go. At this rate I need to go perfect for a week or two so as to regain some respect. So with that in mind, and a trip to Vegas at Christmas time looming soon…. get ready!!!! I’m coming back!

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Thursday November 12, 2009

Disappointing showing last week, and I’m not talking about the marksmanship of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. 13 of 43? Come on man. The Chinese are having better success making snow.

No,  I’m talking about going 1 for 3 in last week’s picks. And got beat out right on the two misses. My CC.com record is now 5-5. I’m quickly losing all respect from the five three regular readers who still visit this site. We just lost a couple of readers who felt their time on the internet would be better used searching for the Carrie Prejean sex tape. Alright on to the picks.

NC State +8, Texas -23.5

And just for fun, not to be counted on my record: I’ll take Paquio over Cotto, if only in hopes that Money Mayweather will soon fight Pac Man.

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Friday November 6, 2009

Week three of Mac’s Picks at CC.com has arrived. While I haven’t exactly burst onto the scene like Michael Richards, I’d classify my record so far as respectable if not satisfactory. Hey I’m no Colin Cowherd, but I don’t have my own radio show and I don’t have a man crush on Jim Tressel either.  Bernie Kosar circa 1990/91 is another story. He’s so dreamy.  Wow what! Did I just say that out loud?!

Ok uhm… on to the picks.

Minnesota -6.5, Texas A&M and Colorado over 56.5, Kansas -2.5

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Tuesday November 3, 2009

Happy Election Day! Tho I can’t imagine any of the people that read this blog are registered to vote. You disappoint me.

Speaking of disappointments, thanks Iowa. You might have preserved your perfect season but that last score covered the spread and cost me a perfect 3-0 weekend. But hey, I still got 2 out of 3. Jack Nicholson would be proud.

My record at CC.com stands at 4-3. Stay tuned for this week’s picks.

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Friday October 30, 2009

Happy Cavs first win!!!!! Good thing the Lebrons played the Twolves! 0-3 would have been embarrassing. Not as embarrassing as a degree from The Medill School of Journalism, but still pretty bad.

OK time for this week’s picks. Keeping with the, “Hey dick head! I’m just having fun here!. Stop giving me crap!” attitude of this section of CC.com,  I give you these picks a full nine and a half hours before kickoff of the early games, so unless you live in a Las Vegas sports book (Rossitron I’m looking at you) or have a bookie that sleeps on the other half of your pull out couch, then good luck actually geting down on these games and taking advantage of my brilliance.

Indiana +17.5, Washington State +27.5, Cincinnati -15

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Wednesday October 28, 2009

So last week didn’t go as planned. I spent a paragraph explaining how I wasn’t going to go willy nilly and then I did anyway by throwing a Southern Cal pick in there that I wasn’t all that comfortable with. 2-1 turned into 2-2 and instead of a winning week I had  a push. But at least it wasn’t a loss. Are you convinced yet? From the comment board it looks like Shane still needs to see more. So we’ll try again this weekend. Stay tuned for this week’s picks. World Series not included.

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Friday October 23, 2009

Let’s Have Some Fun!

Welcome to CC's New Picks Maker

There’s a new sheriff in town at Cursed Cleveland, unlike past picks makers, he’s not from Cleveland so maybe he won’t be doomed from the start.  Please say hello and welcome to Mac.

Hi. Glad to be here. I’ve been a CC groupie since day 1…or 15, or maybe 263. If you’ve read the “About” section of the blog then you know what we are all about. Having fun, being different and posting less frequently than the Indians win a pennant. I fully intend on continuing this long standing tradition. The best way to be a winner at the sports book is to only bet the games you feel strongly about. The easiest way to lose is to get cocky, go willy nilly and make a bunch of picks on contests you know nothing about. In this vein I’ll be sticking to games I like, teams I feel comfortable with and sports that lend themselves to intriguing matchups. AKA college football. I may expand my horizon from time to time and go into other areas of the board, but for now we’ll stick with that. So far in 2009 I am 16-8.

This week’s picks.

Mississippi St +23, Texas Tech -21.5, Iowa +1.5, Southern Cal -21

If you want explanations as to why, go somewhere else. I’m having fun, not doing work here!!! I’ll let my record stand for itself.  Sheesh! What do you want for free?

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