Cleaning out the inbox

Time for an inbox cleaning before things start to build up too much.

We start with the passing of Nate Thurmond, who as a basketball hall of famer is best known as a Golden State Warrior, but will always be a Cavalier to me.
Thurmond was acquired in the middle of the Miracle of Richfield season and gave that team a lacking frontcourt veteran presence that they lacked.
Thurmond only played a year and a half for Cleveland before retiring, but his number was still retired by the team (For as highly as I thought of Thurmond, I still believe World B.Free was more deserving of a number retirement) after his tenure.
Thurmond was more of a rebounder/shot-blocker than a pure scorer and spent most of his career as the third-best big man in basketball, first behind Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, then behind Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and finally behind Abdul-Jabbar and Bob Lanier.
The hall of famer died of leukemia at the age of 74.

I've written in the past about the greatest pro football writer ever in my opinion -Paul Zimmerman.
I even put Zimmerman in the Forgotten Superstars segment (now that I mention it, isn't it time for another installment of Forgotten Superstars?) and his work is sorely missed.
Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback spent a whole week looking at the work of Dr.Z and his unfinished memoir.
The best part for me was Dr. Z's all-time NFL team and lots of interesting things to read from the link...

Peter King also writes in MMQ about Donald Trump and his involvement in the United States Football League.
Trump, who has been cited for the ridiculous decision for the league to invade the fall to challenge the NFL, which was responsible for the league's eventual demise, owned the New Jersey Generals and the story deals with some of the stories with Trump's ownership of the team.
The story with Trump pushing his way to the end of the league is the first and arguably major reason for my dislike for the Republican nominee for President...

We finish with Style Blueprint's interview with long-time TRS favorite Christi Paul.
Those of you familiar with the Pigskin Picking Machine will likely remember Christi as the face of the PPM in 2015.
Who will be this year's face?
Stay tuned for more!

Pigskin Picking Machine-Championship Edition

It's championship week for the PPM!!!

Last Week;3-1
Overall: 108-44

AFC Championship
New England over Denver 24-13

NFC Championship
Arizona over Carolina 34-31

Pigskin Picking Machine-Playoff Edition

The PPM keeps rolling on with four playoff games!

Last Week:5-0
Overall; 105-43

Patriots over Chiefs 23-20
Broncos over Steelers 24-16 (this pick is made only because of the questionable health of Ben Rothlisberger and Antonio Brown)
Seahawks over Panthers 16-14
Cardinals over Packers 34-24

Pigskin Picking Machine-Playoff Edition

We continue to the NFL Playoffs and add the National Championship for College.

Last week:3-3
Overall:100- 43

National Championship
Alabama over Clemson 38-21

NFL Playoffs
Chiefs over Texans 21-14
Steelers over Bengals 35-28
Seahawks over Vikings 24-19
Packers over Redskins 26-20

Pigskin Picking Machine

We conclude the NFL season and most of the bowl season with the PPM.

Last Week:7-1

Overall:97-40

College 

Fiesta Bowl

Ohio State over Notre Dame 30-17

Orange Bowl

Oklahoma over Clemson 24-19

Sugar Bowl

Alabama over Michigan State 21-16

NFL

Steelers over Browns 35-10

Falcons over Saints 45-42

Game of the Week

Packers over Vikings 28-20

Pigskin Picking Machine

The PPM starts early this week with all the bowl games,so here they are for this week.

Last Week:2-1

Overall;90-39

Bowl Games

Poinsettia Bowl

Boise State over Northern Illinois 29-19

Go Daddy Bowl

Bowling Green over Georgia Southern 36-20

Bahamas Bowl

Western Michigan over Middle Tennessee State 24-23

Heart of Dallas Bowl

Washington over Southern Mississippi 23-20

Texas Bowl

LSU over Texas Tech 43-29

NFL
Chiefs over Browns 23-10

Saints over Jaguars 28-26

Game of the Week

Cardinals over Packers 35-32

PPM and Boxing Challenge?

A special edition of the PPM that combines last week's missing 2 NFL picks,this week's and a quick look at the boxing challenge from Manchester England.

Last Week,I had these saved,but not posted as I picked the Browns to beat the 49ers,but had the Saints losing to Tampa and they won.
So...That puts last week at 1-1,the previous week was a 10-1 in the college championship week.
Current record stands at 88-38.

I will do another Bowl PPM later this week with the teams we follow that have their bowl games next week!

But for tomorrow,3 NFL games

Seahawks over Browns 36-13
Saints over Lions 28-27

Game of the Week
Steelers over Broncos 24-17

The boxing challenge started early with R.L.Malpica earning two points to my one to cut the lead to 153-146 after two fights from Manchester England.
The main event saw Billy Joe Saunders lift the WBO middleweight title from Andy Lee via majority decision.
Saunders dominated the early part of the fight and almost stopped Lee in the third as he dropped Lee twice in the round.
Lee swept the late rounds and in rounds,I scored the bout even at six-six,but the knockdowns swung my card to Saunders at 114-112 and meant the difference between a Saunders win and a draw on the official cards.
Both R.L and I picked Lee for no points,but R.L. grabbed two points to my one as Liam Smith retained his WBO Jr.Middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Jimmy Kelly.
That bout was untelevised,so no scorecard from me...

Four posts from me today! Might be a record,but I still have lots of catching up to do!
HBO boxing tonight,Browns tomorrow and I still have to write about being in Cleveland and why!
Stay tuned!!!

Pigskin Picking Machine

The PPM concludes the college football regular season and we will be picking each of the conference title games today...

Last Week:5-4
Overall:77-36

College
MAC title
Bowling Green over Northern Illinois 28-19

Conference USA title
Western Kentucky over Southern Mississippi 42-38

Mountain West title
San Diego State over Air Force 22-17

American title
Houston over Temple 31-21

SEC title
Alabama over Florida 24-6

Pac 12 title
USC over Stanford 41-35

Big 10 title
Michigan State over Iowa 17-13

ACC title
Clemson over North Carolina 30-17

Pros
Bengals over Browns 35-14
Panthers over Saints 32-26

Game of the Week
Seahawks over Vikings 27-23

Pigskin Picking Machine

The PPM is back early this due to Thanksgiving.
The Bowling Green game has been played,but as always I give an honest selection..

Last Week:4-4
Overall:72-32

College
Ohio State over Michigan 16-14
Bowling Green over Ball State 45-14
Boise State over San Jose State 35-23
Texas over Texas Tech 42-39
Washington State over Washington 35-28

Game of the Week
Oklahoma over Oklahoma State 54-43

NFL
Saints over Texans 35-34
Ravens over Browns 13-10

Game of the Week
Patriots over Broncos 24-16

Pigskin Picking Machine

The PPM returns for a big college football weekend.
With both the Browns and Saints on bye,I'll be doing two games of the week.

Last Week: 4-5
Overall:68-28

College
Ohio State over Michigan State 27-16
Bowling Green over Toledo 36-30
Boise State over Air Force 28-27
Washington over Oregon State 23-13
Middle Tennessee State over North Texas 35-10

Game of the Week
Oklahoma State over Baylor 54-42

Pro
Packers over Vikings 24-19
Cardinals over Bengals 35-30

Pigskin Picking Machine

The PPM returns with another big week of college football.
The Bowling Green game has already been played,so I am counting my pick for that game...

Last Week:6-4
Overall: 64-23

College
Ohio State over Illinois 42-19
Bowling Green over Western Michigan 35-24
Boise State over New Mexico 37-21
Texas Tech over Kansas State 48-34
Washington over Arizona State 23-17

Game of the Week
Baylor over Oklahoma 52-48

Pro
Steelers over Browns 24-9
Saints over Redskins 36-28

Game of the Week
Seahawks over Cardinals 21-17

Pigskin Picking Machine

The PPM is early this week with the Browns playing tonight.
For the record-the Bowling Green game is over,but I used my actual pick...
I watched that game instead of the Cavaliers,so that is why there is not Cavs coverage.

Last Week: 7-2
Overall:58-19

College
Ohio State over Minnesota 38-13
Bowling Green over Ohio 45-19
Texas Tech over West Virginia 50-41
Utah over Washington 27-15
Marshall over Middle Tennessee State 42-24

Games of the Week
Alabama over LSU 17-13
Clemson over Florida State 45-39

NFL
Bengals over Browns 35-13
Saints over Titans 31-10

Game of the Week
Packers over Panthers 27-17

Pigskin Picking Machine

The PPM returns with Ohio State and Bowling Green on a bye week and since our normal substitute (Middle Tennessee State) is off as well,I'll add two games of the week to make up for it.

Last Week:7-2
Overall: 51-17

College
Boise State over UNLV 45-7
Oklahoma State over Texas Tech 43-36
Washington over Arizona 23-19

Games of the Week
Notre Dame over Temple 21-20
Georgia over Florida 30-29

Pro
Cardinals over Browns 35-14
Saints over Giants 28-26

Games of the Week
Packers over Broncos 24-13
Bengals over Steelers 35-31

Pigskin Picking Machine

The PPM returns with another big week of football.

Last Week: 6-3
Season: 44-15

College
Ohio State over Rutgers 43-10
Bowling Green over Kent State 45-24
Boise State over Wyoming 38-13
Oklahoma over Texas Tech 40-32
Stanford over Washington 21-14

Game of the Week
Ole Miss over Texas A&M 42-37

Pro
Rams over Browns 24-14
Colts over Saints 34-24

Game of the Week
Chargers over Raiders 28-24

Pigskin Picking Machine

The PPM will be early this week,since the Saints are playing on Thursday this week...

Last Week:7-2
Overall: 38-12

College
Ohio State over Penn State 35-16
Bowling Green over Akron 53-35
Boise State over Utah State 35-27
Texas Tech over Kansas 62-14
Washington over Oregon 23-20

Game of the Week
Michigan State over Michigan 24-20

NFL
Broncos over Browns 24-14
Falcons over Saints 35-24

Game of the Week
Patriots over Colts 31-20

Pigskin Picking Machine

The PPM returns for another week.
I didn't realize that Washington played on Thursday,so welcome our standby team for bye weeks and early games-the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders to the PPM....
It's possible that MTSU will be added to the full time PPM for 2016.

Last Week:5-3
Overall: 31-10

College
Ohio State over Maryland 41-14
Bowling Green over Massachusetts 49-17
Boise State over Colorado State 36-24
Texas Tech over Iowa State 55-23
Middle Tennessee State over Western Kentucky 26-24

Game of the Week
Utah over California 46-43

Pro
Ravens over Browns 24-13
Eagles over Saints 24-21

Game of the Week
Bengals over Seahawks 24-17

Pigskin Picking Machine

The PPM machine rolls on!

Last Week:7-2
Overall:26-7

College
Ohio State over Indiana 42-17
Bowling Green over Buffalo 48-25
Boise State over Hawaii 37-17
Baylor over Texas Tech 50-42

Game of the Week
Georgia over Alabama 25-23

NFL
Chargers over Browns 28-14
Cowboys over Saints 42-31

Game of the Week
Bills over Giants 24-17

Pigskin Picking Machine

The PPM is back for another week at the football altar!

Last Week:6-3
Overall: 19-5

College
Ohio State over Western Michigan 37-20
Bowling Green over Purdue 40-31
Boise State over Virginia 23-16
TCU over Texas Tech 52-34
Washington over Cal 24-23

Game of the Week
Oregon over Utah 30-21

NFL
Raiders over Browns 28-20
Panthers over Saints 21-14

Game of the Week
Packers over Chiefs 26-17

Pigskin Picking Machine

The PPM returns with another week of picks!

Last Week:7-2
Overall:13-2

College
Ohio State over Northern Illinois 45-14
Bowling Green over Memphis 37-34
Boise State over Idaho State 45-7
Arkansas over Texas Tech 31-21
Washington over Utah State 17-14

Game of the Week
Ole Miss over Alabama 24-22

NFL
Browns over Titans 17-14
Saints over Buccaneers 34-16

Game of the Week
Packers over Seahawks 27-21

Pigskin Picking Machine

Long night from the road office,so I wanted to get the PPM finished now.
My intent (once again) is to do the Browns preview for the podcast tonight....

Last Week:6-0

College
Ohio State over Hawaii 60-13
Bowling Green over Maryland 34-30
Boise State over BYU 24-21
Texas Tech over UTEP 44-39
Washington over Sacramento State 42-13

Game of the Week
Michigan State over Oregon 27-23

NFL
Jets over Browns 14-10
Saints over Cardinals 24-21

Game of the Week
Broncos over Ravens 28-19