The Picker: Get your fix here
BY The Picker
Thursday, November 01, 2012
11/01/12 at 10:16 AM
Click here to read The Picker's Blog
Correction: The picker column originally posted without a pick for the Texas A&M at Mississippi State game. It has been added.
Original Print Headline: Get your fix here: The Picker campaigns for your eyeballs
THIS BEING ELECTION week, here's a campaign speech.
The sports fan has an important choice to make: Where does he or she go consistently for the goods?
The Internet has opened up all outlets to the world. We have readers and responders from Iraq to Alaska.
The sports fan with particular interests in this region has three basic sources of information and entertainment: the Oklahoma City area, the Tulsa area, and the chat rooms populated by raving nuts who know less than nothing.
From the OKC area, you get things like the guy who yells all the time on the radio and said Thunder player Westbrook would never amount to anything as a guard in the NBA, and the writer who recently predicted that Iowa State would defeat Oklahoma State at football.
From here you get the first look at everything from the early proclamation that the Perkins deal would be a major downer for the OKC Thunder, to the recent discovery that OU was in the wrong offense on the gridiron, as the spread is dysfunctional without a quarterback who can run some, to future predictions like which teams are the most likely to be cheated by the BCS this time around - Kansas State and Oregon - as network execs everywhere have begun to pray for an Alabama-Notre Dame final.
Choose your sports source carefully.
If you read and hear lively and original material, who knows, some of it could rub off.
The picks
Tulsa at Arkansas (-5 1/2): A little hard to believe that one of the worst teams in the history of Razorback football would still be almost a touchdown favorite over TU.
To get a decent new coach, the Arkansas athletic department is going to have to destroy all the film of this year's defense.
The OU and Ark quarterbacks slide toward the bottom of the first round of next year's pro draft.
The Arkansas defense is so lousy, the home club could benefit from one of those wacky calls of yesteryear when the refs seemed to throw flags against the visitors just for the exercise.
Ark by 6.
OU (-11 1/2) at Iowa State: Another of those contests in Medium Game Bob's wheelhouse, a foe with barely enough talent to find a bottom-rung bowl.
Of all the mysteries surrounding OU's recent history, like wondering where the tight end has been for 12 years, none is more perplexing than the puzzling lack of high-quality running backs.
The current crop seems unable to turn on a dime, maybe not even a pitcher's mound.
Straight-on runners should be enough here.
About the best OU can hope for now is a cold bowl date at the Cotton, down and back, minimum expense.
OU by 9.
OSU at Kansas State (-8): Keeping an undefeated K-State team out of a national title game would be the greatest miscarriage of football justice since OU went to the big game instead of Auburn.
O-State didn't play better last week.
Improvement is an illusion.
It just played a lousy team in TCU, which will be lucky to win more than it loses.
You are what you are.
OSU is halfway decent.
K-State by 6.
Alabama (-9) at LSU: The home field loses a little something in translation when the visitor is this group of bruisers, and when your quarterback looks lost in the warm-up.
Loopy Les needs to review the manual on how to recruit somebody who can throw.
A one-loss SEC team could be bumped by a no-loss lesser.
Alabama by 13.
Missouri at Florida (-16): The SEC has already knocked the chants out of the Missouri fans.
Florida by 20.
Nebraska at Michigan State (-1): These two quarterbacks are headed to private business.
Nebraska by 4.
TCU at West Virginia (-7): Couple of flops sinking the Big 12 to embarrassing levels.
Home team by 10.
Texas at Texas Tech (-5): The somewhat sad proof that Mack has completely lost it is he celebrated a victory over Kansas, then said that Ash was one of the best quarterbacks in the country.
Tech by 7.
Texas A&M (-3 1/2) at Mississippi State: Texas A&M by 3.
Oregon (-6 1/2) at USC: Hard to believe that an undefeated offense as good as Oregon's could be kept from a national title shot.
Beating USC twice seems like no big deal.
Oregon by 4.
Sunday
Miami (-3) at Indianapolis: Only the press fails to realize that Luck is the best rookie quarterback.
Indy by 3.
Baltimore (-3) at Cleveland: Weeden still in one piece, needs to speed up the learning process because his time really flies.
Baltimore by 1.
Minnesota at Seattle (-3): Home field salty, worth at least a touchdown.
Seattle by 7.
Steelers at the Giants (-3 1/2): Steelers looked perfect in throwback uniforms, belong on a black and white newsreel.
Giants by 3.
Dallas at Atlanta (-6): If Jerry won't fire himself from one of his numerous jobs, assistant head coach or GM, the very least he should do is demand that his co-head coach quit calling plays.
Dallas is so dysfunctional, the head coach needs to concentrate on who is slapping whom.
Coordinators call the plays. Head coaches call the time outs.
Atlanta by 3.
Monday
Eagles at New Orleans (-3 1/2): Of interest only to people who enjoy the legal wager now and again.
The Eagle coach and quarterback could be left in NO.
Home team by 3.
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