Corky's Revenge

12-4, Baby!!!

20-12 for the season so far. But Corky's only got quick picks this week, as he'll explain later...

so...

Tennessee +2
Houston -3.5
Philly -7.5
Cleveland + 13.5
Giants -6.5
Detroit + 6.5
Green Bay -6.5
San Fran +7
Atlanta +4.5
Chicago -2.5
New Orleans -6
San Diego -5.5
Cincinnati +3.5
Denver -2
Carolina +8.5

Week 2 Corkers

Corky Says...

You can't judge a season by the first week. Too many odd things can happen. Injuries, crazy tipped touchdowns, good or bad debuts, Jake Delhomme. But I did go 8-8. A solid start, which can only lead to bigger and better things...

PICKS in CAPS

OAKLAND (+3) @ Kansas City

I believe in Oakland. The magic is back in silver and black. Well, lets just say I believe in Oakland in as much as someone has to finish second in the AFC West.

HOUSTON (+7) @ Tennessee

Houston is much better than they showed against the Jets. And remember, there's always turnover in playoff teams between seasons. Tennessee seems like such a likely choice to miss the playoffs. If they were any more likely, they'd be the Miami Dolphins.

NEW ENGLAND (-3.5) @ NY Jets

People love the Jets. New coach, rookie QB, big defense; they think they're looking at the 2008 Ravens. And while everyone goes ga-ga for the Jets, you and the Corkster will make money. Because the Patriots have one Thomas J. Brady, Esq.

@ GREEN BAY (-9.5) vs. Cincinnati

A moment of silence for the 2009 Bengals. Even if they hadn't grasped defeat from the jaws of victory, the facts show they scored 7 points at home against Denver. That's bad. Not a good omen, if you will.

MINNESOTA (-10) @ Detroit

The Lions didn't look as horrible as 2008. We like that. But I guess Adrian Peterson still notices that they're still the Lions. And he's still Adrian Peterson.

NEW ORLEANS (-1) @ Philadelphia

Alright, raise your hand if you had Philadelphia winning the NFC this year. I want to laugh at you. Seriously. I've been saying this for years, and I'll keep saying it until someone believes me... we have seen the best of Donovan McNabb. He will not see the playoffs in an Eagles jersey EVER AGAIN. New Orleans wins by two touchdowns.

CAROLINA (+6) @ Atlanta

When you're wrong, you're wrong. I thought Jake Delhomme was done. Fantasy anathema, gambling enigma, one bad game away from being the franchise player of the Florida Tuskers. And now everyone's running away from him like he's on fire. And when all the money's going one way, Corky goes the other.

ST. LOUIS (+9.5) @ Washington

Yikes. I don't think Washington can beat anyone by 10 points. Including Miami.

ARIZONA (+3) @ Jacksonville

I know, I know. West coast team, playing at 1 p.m. on the East Coast. But making Jacksonville a favorite implies that they are better than another NFL team. I refuse to believe this.

@ SAN FRANCISCO (-1) vs. Seattle

Only because San Fran's defense might be good, and Seattle's defense might all be on the injured list.

@ BUFFALO (-4.5) vs. Tampa Bay

I'm not convinced. I know Tampa ran all over the Dallas defense. But you have to believe in something, and I believe Tampa Bay is the worst team in football. And if that means taking Buffalo and giving points, such is the gambler's curse.

@ DENVER (-3) vs. Cleveland

McDaniels vs. Mangini in another titanic clash of Ex-Patriot assistants. In watching just how inept these ex-Patriot coaches are, we should all appreciate Bill Belichick a little bit more.

BALTIMORE (+3) @ San Diego

Now would be a good time to get on the Ravens' bandwagon. And it's not like San Diego cares about this game. The weather's still great in San Diego, and 6-10 could still win the AFC West.

@ CHICAGO (+3) vs. Pittsburgh

I can't prove this, but I think someone switched Jay Cutler's Gatorade with Kool-Aid Sunday night. It wouldn't shock me. It would shock him, though. And didn't someone tell Troy Polamalu about the Head 'n' Shoulders curse?

@ DALLAS (-3) vs. NY Giants

I believe it was the great Samuel Taylor Coleridge who once wrote "In Arlington did Jerry Jones/A stately pleasure dome decree..." And Corky's gambling adage #434 states: never bet against a team playing its first home game underneath a scoreboard the size of a blue whale.

INDIANAPOLIS (-3) @ Miami

Nothing like ending the week with an easy win. I don't care if it's Hank Baskett, Charlie Bucket, Jar Jar Binks, or Sarah Pail-in catching balls from America's Greatest Commercial Star, Peyton Manning.

And when we go to sleep on Monday night, America will sleep better knowing that we've all made money, and the Dolphins are horrible again.

Corky's quick picks for the week.

Corky's a little hung over today, so he sent us a quick message with his award-winning NFL picks for today...

Corky says...

Atlanta -4
Baltimore -12.5
Carolina +2.s
Cincinnati -4.5
Minnesota -4
Houston -4.5
Indy -6.5
Detroit + 13.5
Dallas -5
San Fran +6
Wash +6.5
Seattle -7.5
GB -4
NE -11
SD -9.5

Someone's gonna get rich tonight...
C

De Rigueur

(Because I'm compelled)

Regrettably, I've worked in the restaurant industry now for almost half of my life. One of the periodic annoyances of the job is the regular visit of the upper muckers. Their title is immaterial; regional vice president, district manager, department head, auditor, it doesn't matter. Nothing puts the fear of your favorite supreme being in a restaurant manager like the visit of the bosses.

So we clean things that haven't been cleaned in months. Employee files are updated, offices are pristine, the A-crew is brought in to work the entire shift. All the things that could be done easily if they were matters of habit become Herculean projects done in panic mode. All for one moment, one visit that often lasts for no more than an hour.

After the visit, we make an effort to keep things tidy for a couple of months, or weeks, or days. But eventually, we return to the old ways, doing the minimum to get by until the next quarterly visit, when panic sets in again.

Today is our nation's annual visit.

And today, people I admire and respect come close to grasping the significance of the event.

[OK, For the next few moments, I'm going to assume I'm right. This is usually an easy task for me, but I understand that it might be a bit of a conceit here. And I'm not putting down anyone's opinion. I suppose I'm just putting mine one shelf higher. Whoops.]

We watch videos of the events, of our reactions to said events. We remember where we were, and how it made us feel, and how for a few moments after what happened, we were a little nicer, a little friendlier, a little bit better. The offices were clean, the floors swept, the fixtures buffed and polished.

I suppose these are all good things. But like almost all changes for the better, they don't stick. It's our nature. We stop jogging, we have another slice of pie, or one last last cigarette, or one more for the road. Old habits always die hard.

And so, in an act that even I think is a bit too morbid (!), we look back on how good things were for a brief moment after things were so bad. But do we really have any intention of keeping things that way? I've said on any number of occasions that I'm going to change things in my life. And every now and then, I start doing things that just might change my existence for the better. But it's the middle of the day, Jerry Springer's still on my TV, there was way too much butter on the toast I just ate, and I can't imagine me going out for a walk after dinner.

For better or for worse, we are creatures of habit. And I can't help but imagine us doing this same thing every year for much of the next century. Until the next generation passes away, 9/11 will still be a current event. And we'll remember the shock, the ruthlessness, the cunning, the brutal simplicity, the simple brutality. And we'll think of how the country came together in those next weeks, the courage and bravery of strangers, the sacrifice of civilian volunteers; how those who are so nameless and so faceless ever so briefly had names, faces, families, friends, pulses. And tomorrow, we'll watch Notre Dame-Michigan, or we'll go to work, or buy a TV, or grill a burger. Evening always comes, morning always follows.

I know what you're thinking (or, more accurately, I know what I'd be thinking if I were you). Any moron with a Republican seat in Congress or an AM radio talk show can be a contrarian. Why not show some grit and come up with something better.

OK.

So we'll always be affected by 9/11. This is a given. But what we all try to take from it is what we did for those short few weeks after the fact. So let's run with that, but with better distribution.

Pick a month, but not the month of your birth. I'll go with... April. Then pick a day in that month with no particular significance to you... the 23rd, in my case (alright, the one of you who knows I'm kind of cheating here. But they're dead now, so it gives my crap-ass memory one more reason to remember the day). Go to your cell phone, PDA, computer, planning software, desk calendar... whatever you may use to schedule your life. On the date you picked, simply write "Remember 9/12".

And then do it. Bake something for your office. Give blood. Serve meals at a homeless shelter. Donate time or money (or both) to the USO. Take the time to do something you haven't done in a while, but the memory of which comes rushing back to you in times of reflection on selflessness, or sharing, or going the extra mile, or just being nice for no particular reason. Something simple. Something small. Something within your means. Something. Anything.

So now we can remember that, in those dark times, we didn't fall apart. We didn't topple, or burn, or crash or fall even though that's what those very few hoped. In those weeks after 9/11, we amazed even ourselves with our reaction. But in our new world, the greatest thing we can do is make that reaction our action.

And if someone asks you why, tell them you're remembering that no matter what happens, the human spirit endures. We are capable of much better good than we are evil. Evening always comes, but Morning always follows.

Corky's Here!

Football season can mean one thing, and one thing only...

Corky's Back!

And he's ready to make someone some money with his football picks. He's got more in store on Saturday, but for tonight, he says take the Steelers to cover.