Where There's Smoke

Before launching into my Super Bowl XLVIII prediction, I have to make one thing clear: I am an Oakland Raiders fan. Perhaps that’s understating things by a factor of about 10,000.   I have been an Oakland Raiders fan since 1968.   Cut me and I bleed Silver & Black™.   Just Win, Baby™.   Commitment to Excellence™. I mean, just take a look at a sampling from the ’68 Raiders: Pete Banaszak (RB) Fred Biletnikoff (WR) George Blanda (QB) Willie Brown (DB) Billy Cannon [1] Ben Davidson The Mad Bomber, Daryle Lamonica [2] Double Ought, Jim Otto Art Shell (before he was a catatonic coach) Gene Upshaw (before he sold out NFL players) Warren Wells George Atkinson I started watching football the year before, in 1967.   I grew up in Northern California but was actually a fan of the Rams.   More specifically, I was a fan of Roman Gabriel [3] , Jack Snow, Les Josephson, and the greatest defensive front four in history:   Deacon Jone...

Writers are faced with seemingly innumerable distractions, life stuff that comes between the ideas blowing across the barren wasteland of our minds and the words that somehow magically appear on our computer screens. But the single greatest impediment to this successful thought transfer is the Internet. This is a documented fact.   I know because I just documented it.   And it may even be true (though that’s not likely). In fact, my dear friend [1] Chuck Wendig  even included Freedom Internet Blocking Productivity Software as NUMBER ONE on his “ Ten More Gifts for Writers (2013 Edition) .” Some blame Al Gore.   Others blame Bill Jobs or Steve Gates or one of those other computer-box dudes. Personally, I blame Bush.   Vannevar Bush .   But that’s another story for another time. Photo credit: MIT Technology Review The point is that the Internet gets in the way of writing. So I’ve come up with a solution. Mind you, this is...

And there you have it. The 2013 NCAA Division I FBS National Champion Florida State University Seminoles: And so now I put the college topics to bed and turn my attention to the NFL playoff betting lines for the next few weeks. I'll also be bringing  Seven 7hings  back this winter but other writing projects await.  And I have miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep. 2013 was the Year of Upheaval.  2014 is the Year of Simplicity.  Thank God. 201. Love, peace, & chicken grease, Smokey Joe

As the college football season winds to a close, I’d be remiss were I not to point out my brilliant analyses over the course of this year. It started with my brilliant analysis on Oct 3 , proclaiming that Maryland would be able to run at will against the Seminoles. Next, I’m still waiting for Jimbo or someone from his staff to call me, thanking me for the letter I wrote to Stanford on Nov 6 , asking them to kindly remove Oregon from the picture.   I get it...he’s been busy.   But after tonight, the clock is running. Then came my Nov 9 nod to Brian Piccolo and Billy Dee Calrissian and this nugget about FSU quarterback, Jameis Winston: “On the other hand, with Marcus Mariota and Teddy Bridgewater throwing out tepid numbers on Thursday and Friday, respectively, this could be a chance to showcase Jameis Winston and bolster his Heisman candidacy.” Finally, I wrapped things up by simultaneously acknowledging and avoiding Winston’s legal troubles, all while show...