Hey 3! You Look Mighty Cute in Them Jeans!

Streak Start: Pbbbbbbttttttt!

Will the redemption never arrive?

I’m terrific at luring and baiting a one here and there, but apparently in the last couple of weeks, I’m not passing muster for a 2nd date.

At the moment I see there are a plethora of 1pm games going on today. As of this writing, it’s only 11:33am. I’m going to enjoy some coffee, Farmville and oatmeal. Cozy grandma type things. Soon I’m going to learn how to knit skeleton sweaters for the Hot Topic baby. I also have the dog barking at what might be the flapping of a fly’s wings and Mate talking on the phone next to me. I can barely write a coherent sentence so pick-choosing is probably on the off peak at the moment.

****Post Distraction****

Well, had I simply seen New England Patriots at home vs the Miami Dolphins, I wouldn’t even need a brain to chose. So hopefully this isn’t one of those, YEAH, CHECK OUT THIS NO BRAINER…EVEN MY GUINEA PIGS WOULDN’T GET THIS ONE WRONG and then Oops. New England gets a wedgie. In between making more coffee, feeding humans and having a head full of blog posts (my Other Blogs are out there…check under profile), I’m looking for a quick pick, a chance to see Mate naked in the shower and some reading time.

****Post Game and Shower****

Can I tell you how relieved I am that not only do I have at least one erect thing in my life (a shiny new “1”!) since Mate’s hernia surgery a few days ago? Besides the Patriots winning me the stuffed bear at the carnival, the Ravens have also won. I have no pick riding on their wings, but do like the team.

Next up for the 4:15 games was a pile of confusion and new GPS programming. I was going to take Eagles over Dallas until I saw that none of Philly’s players were showing up. Slight exaggeration but I’m a girl who is dog paddling in the sports pool so that’s what you get. I really wanted to go against Dallas (see prior Never Picking Texas Teams Rule) but didn’t feel like Philly was 100% going to catch me. I’m pretty sure it’s possible that they’d have my ass before my back so moving along.

I recall losing the one time I did decide with full throttle abandon to rip it all off and choose the Houston Texans. And then I lost my streak. So I was left flapping in the breeze after finally giving in. So today’s rule of No Texas is up, reinforced with brick walls and high school security guards with 3 moustache hairs each.

I checked out the San Diego Chargers @ Denver Broncos instead. Hm. You know, I thought I wouldn’t find anything on this menu that was going to graze my palate as nicely as choosing (safely) against any Texas team. This one seems to be it. Don’t worry, I have my plate of Crow waiting in the fridge should I need it. Mate currently has a 4 streak so maybe he can feed it to me. Naked.

****Post Game****

It’s been a few glasses of wine at this point and after San Diego won, I decided to go with a fun basketball game. I imagined choosing Seattle Seahawks at first up against St. Louis, but didn’t. Why? Well the conversation with Mate went in the direction of me wanting to take Seattle but thinking maybe I oughta choose St. Louis. I’d want to visit Seattle more than St. Louis and Mate agreed with that. However, that’s the Girl way of choosing things and it may or may not increase my streak. I decided to ignore that game and choose Stanford Cardinal basketball instead. They’d be entertaining the California Golden Bears for the evening. It was one of those picks where neither looked especially threatening to the other so I went with the home team.
And it paid off. I am embracing a “3” in bed tonight peeps. Oh the glory of a 3 in patchouli as opposed to a Zero in Brut. Mere child’s play!

Sweet dreams tonight. I’ll be engulfed by my 3 while it lasts.

No One Wants to be Number Two

Well to avoid a cliffhanger from yesterday, I’ll mention first that the Colorado Avalanche done me good last night. I went to bed with a “2” for my streak.

Thankfully today there aren’t any games until 3pm. I’m at work and I’m buried in virtual papers. Since we’re speaking virtual, let’s say there is a Redwood forest that multiplied like rabbits. Then turned into sheets of paper. You’ll find me under there.

It’s getting close…only an hour to go and I have not researched a thing yet.

Damn job. What a joykill.

I see soccer. AH! My eyes!!!! No!!

But if I want to stretch my steak sooner than 7pm (note the positivity of the streak INCREASING in this sentence) then soccer game it might have to be. This is the sick cycle of addiction on a pretty regular basis. Either Addiction or else it is the desperate BC that awaits The Call. If I’m doing pretty well, I usually won’t touch soccer. If I’m desperate to streak higher, I’ll tuck my tail down and drunk dial a soccer game.

Today we have Manchester City at home, entertaining for tea and crushed bones, Everton.
Since I’m at work, my research is going to be a bit shoddy. When I’m home I can tie up my mate and child until I have made a clear choice. Here…well, subjected to the rules of Podville. In a flash, I’ve noticed my hand comfortably taking the mouse and clicking HOME – MANCHESTER CITY. AH! Why?! It was so automatic! It was a smooth criminal, right under my very eyes.

Everton appears to draw nicely when having play dates in other fields. They also have lost pretty nicely here and there. That’s my first thought. Manchester City draws or wins pretty regularly. A draw today isn’t going to help me do anything except suck a zero again after yesterday’s Texan Cowpie Party at Tennessee.

One other thing I noticed….in scanning the news for Everton I saw the word ‘negativity’ and a phrase that read “the team have to focus on their own troubles”. Um…..coupled with Carlos “10 Goals so Far” Teves’ change of heart to stop trying to scratch and claw his way out of Manchester City’s box, I think I’ll choose Manchester City.

***Post Game – Peeeee You. Is that the scent of my last pick? Before I put on this shade of Loser Lipstick and pucker up for the Zero Suck, I’ve found about 20 minutes until the next game starts so time to research. I’ve got my eyes on the Illinois State Redbirds vs hometeam NC-Wilmington Seahawks. About 10% have sided with NC and after checking out stats, I don’t see that they’d lie down like speed-bumps and take an easy loss. They’ve won every home game and the Redbirds scorechart for the only Away play has been brought to you by the letter L.

Let’s hope they find my “1” walking close by and that it doesn’t get too far down the road!

***Post Game – Just when I thought I was at the Earth’s Core of all Stank. Try again. My mate had chosen the same game, for all kinds of Guy Reasons. Apparently with all our fabulous reasoning, we forgot about the Lose by 2 Points factor. Applying lip liner to go with the lipstick now. Sucking a lemon before doing a Zero Shot. My precious Starter 1 needs Cialis in order to stand tall.

Can I get rid of these two Red bars of Shame on my pick page?

Houston Rockets vs the Golden State Warriors. We already know how I feel about Houston. I’m so beyond caring today now with a double ZE-ROW that I might chose against Houston without even doing the research. Because clearly, research makes my butt look big.

Well guess what. Warriors…..come out and Playyyyyyyyyyyyy! And play well! I’m so done with Texas. For today anyway. Just like soccer. It seems the GS Warriors have lost one, won one to the Rockets. The winning game was home and tonight they’ll be on their own turf again for a 3rd match up.

Til tomorrow! I’m dreaming….of a buff #1.

G-Mizzle Exposes Picks for Sunday

With a streak of 14 for Progressive/ESPN’s Streak for the Cash, as I unfold my mind for the morning, I am leary about choosing anything. Yesterday felt like a great day to choose games. Ahem. Choose WINNING games.

Late last night I found out that my 23 year old daughter and her Knight are expecting a baby! I get to be a Grayless Grammy at 41 years old! Yeah!!! So mixed with happy and nostalgic emotion, everything suddenly seemed less important. Until we woke up without oil. And we’re in the Northeast. Yeah again!!!

NOT!

The games that I chose yesterday all felt right for me. Yeah, I pick, then I check stats to make double sure. A 14 is the highest that I’ve gotten so far, and my own mate, who introduced me to the game, has gotten as high as an 8. So we can’t stop here! Espn is kind enough to let us dive off the board into their pool of 100K…simply for choosing the winning team!!!

My Om is feeling half open and half fizzled with swirling thoughts of things outside of Streakdom.
So do I choose today? Do I put my vulnerable 14 out there? Well, let’s see what we have.

Juventus vs Chievo Verona. Equals Soccer. Hell to the no. I rarely choose soccer anymore because I rot up the room with it. However, last Wednesday (15) days ago I was compelled to choose Juventus over Manchester City. A pick that the Honey and I were on opposing sides with. I inexplicably put my 7 on the line for it. After nearly stating in the court of law that I will NEVER choose soccer again.

Until I look at the board and choose it….Again – victoriously!

Today however, I will not be dipping my toes in this net.

Being Sunday, there is quite the palete of NFL games going on. My heart goes with the Ravens, but they are playing the New Orleans Saints. I’m not sure that I want to go there. NEXT!
One thing that I usually do not do is base any of my answers on what the majority chose. Although I did just happen to click on the Houston @ Tennessee game simply because TN has only a 3.9% gang o’ gamblers who think they have a shot at the 1pm home game.

After about a minute check down of the stats…..Houston losing the last 4 Away games but also seeing the Titans on a recent losing streak as well. So – who’s losing streak will perpetuate today? That’s where I may side with the majority on this one. My favorite wins are underdog wins – that I’VE chosen of course. I’ll admit that in the past I’ve chosen teams based on who’s mascot I like better….perhaps the SoAndSo Evil Vampires over the Who’s It Puffy Poodles. Yes, it’s a typical Girl’s Decision Process but I think I’ve grown out of it.

So I’ve committed and chosen the Texans. Not easy for me since in the past I made it a rule not to choose anything that reeked of Texas. No Cowboys (ew - and sorry to my Honey who’s cells encapsulate all that is Dallas) and in the past, no Texans. I’m going to have to bend the rules and get out of the 14 year old mindset of Journey vs. Def Leppard*.

*Quick explanation: When I was 14, MTV had Friday Night Video Fights where one video would go up against another video and young suckers like me would call in to vote for your band. Def Leppard won for weeks and weeks. I dutifully contributed with my kiddie votes. Then one dark night (and aren’t they all dark?) I didn’t make the call. Journey won. I vowed my vengeance by doing the most dastardly thing I could think of…..I would NEVER listen to Journey again. Ever. I want my $2.00 back.

Fast forward to my late 30’s….I eventually listened to Journey. But boy did I show THEM…I waited nearly 20 years later before I’d leave the station on that dared to express their roster with “Don’t Stop Believin’.

So I’ll go with the Texans today with that resolve to Be the Change you want to see in the World. Yes, I can bend, I will breathe…I will BE….Texan!

But now that I’ve chosen that game with my neat little checkmark, I have to doublecheck and check out the video that goes with it.

And perhaps peek at the other 1pm games.

And upon further examination, there is the Eagles vs the Giants game. Oh how I’d love to pick the Eagles as they’ve already won against them this season. I still might….but then that goes against my inner rule of Once You Pick it, You Keep It. I rarely go back on my picks and choose either another game or the other team.

Checking in on the Arizona Cardinals vs the Carolina Panthers just made me sad. I hadn’t realized that the Panthers only won one game this entire season. Still, that doesn’t make me feel safe in choosing Arizona, who have won only three. Who knows…maybe Carolina will suddenly become Ralphie from a Christmas Story and end up on top, beating the living pigskin out of the Arizona Scut Farkas’s.

The rest of the 1pm picks are white noise to me. By no means am I a sports aficionado, but I do enjoy playing the Streak. I have to chose straight up Who Will Win this Match sort of games. Once they get into choosing who wins by double digits, who wins with a larger margin of victory, what player yields more passing yards and how, or who’s mom makes the best shepard’s pie, I’m out. I won’t play these games as it requires a transformation on my part into one of those folks who actually either watches the game intently or is a brain overflowing with sports stats. Survey SAYS : X! I’ll take it like my martini, straight up, thanks.

*****Post Game comment****
Did I or did I not say never go with Texas? Ah well…see what happens? I get on the phone at 1pm, check the stats within 15 minutes and see that Tennessee has made a nice Touchdown Cake for themselves with my 14 that they were now up by. Within 15 minutes???

Yipes. So now I can Yipes all I want as I stare out the window at the Streak of Tires where my “14” squealed out of here.

Ok, no problem. I feel rather lucky to have gotten as far as I did. But of course…I want to win!

Time to restart! I went to the store to breathe off my loss and when I came back had only 5 minutes to choose the next game to go for a shiny, overly used but necessary building block that is “1”.

With under 4 minutes to choose, I did exactly what I said earlier that I rarely do. I listened to the voices on the outside of my eyes and body. Not a typo…I meant My Eyes. Looking at the board on ESPN to see that over 80% of folks chose Notre Dame Fighting Irish (basketball) to win by 20+ points against Stony Brook. I took it. The zero is round and balanced all by itself but I’m currently looking for a tall, erect “1”.

Thankfully, all is well, my Folks Crutch has gotten me there.

Next game…

Dang. The only straight up there is for me is hockey. Canadiens vs Colorado Avalanche.
I’ve chosen the Canadiens before…during my last streak actually. They’ve done well by me. Tonight they’re visiting like relatives do at holiday time. And hopefully will wreck da house as good relatives do!

First thoughts: check and see if there are any matchups between these two for this season. None. Next, I check to see what same teams they’ve played with outcomes. Although I was initially leaning toward the Canadiens, I’ve decided to hand my 1 over to the Avalanche hoping they will perform magic tricks and pull a Streak 2 out of their hat for me. My reasoning? They’re home and like the Canadiens, they are #1 in their division.

Meet me here next time to see if I was a mere babe in the woods, trusting my puck to the wrong hands!