Bowl Recap: 1-6 and getting worse

By this point in the bowl binge if I had been actually wagering money on my picks I would be in one of two unpleasant situations:

1.) heading to divorce court

2.) heading for the Sunshine Skyway Bridge

Yes my run for the title of World's Worst Gambler is going strong after a horrendous 1-5 effort today that brought my 17 game tally to 6-11. Yikes.

In all fairness these games have been as hard to predict as what day Britney Spears is going to flash her babymaker again. If I'm not mistaken there has been absolutely zero defense played in any of the 17 bowl games thus far.

In fact here is a look at the scores of the winning teams: 37, 38, 41, 24, 20, 25, 41, 31, 44, 34, 45, 37, 28, 39, 44, 44, 24.

If that isn't crazy enough, check out some of the numbers put up by the losers in these games: 24, 27, 31, 38, 36, 41.

Today three teams scored over 35 points and lost.

It's like these teams are playing arena ball, or some kind of juiced up all star game. Players are just running up & down the field, guys are wide open, nobody can make a tackle, ball carriers are trailing bodies behind them like beer cans off a wedding limo...

The ugliness reached a new high (low) today when the Minnesota Golden Gophers failed to hold a 31-point 2nd half lead and lost 44-41 in OT to Texas Tech. I mean how the hell do you predict that?

Unfortunately no one saw that contest because it was on NFL Net. But the games we were able to view left a lot to be desired. I'm so fed up with the predictions and reviews of this garbage that I am cutting all these recaps to one sentence.

Music City Bowl
Kentucky 28, Clemson 20
Line: Clemson -10
MY PICK: Clemson 38-24
MY REC: 5-8
This game was one of the sorriest excuses for football in recent memory: 6 turnovers (4 on consecutive plays in the 2nd quarter!), 13 penalties, 5 replay reviews, 3 missed field goals, 1 missed extra point and one failed 2-pt conversion. Ug-ly.

Brut Sun Bowl
Oregon State 39, Mizzou 38
Line: OSU -3 1/2
MY PICK: OSU 31-27
MY REC: 5-9
Mizzou blew a 38-24 fourth quarter lead and lost it when Oregon St. coach Mike Riley decided to go for two-and the win-on a late touchdown.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl
South Carolina 44, Houston 36
Line: S. Car - 5 1/2
MY PICK: Houston 34-31
MY REC: 5-10
With the score 30-28 USC and Houston driving at the Gamecocks' 8 an errant snap eluded Cougar QB Kevin Kolb; as the ball flew behind him he chased it down and tried to fall on it but he decided to kick it out of bounds, forcing the first ever 4th & goal punt from the 50 in football history.

Insight Bowl
Texas Tech 44, Minny 41
Line: TTU -7
MY PICK: TTU 37-28
MY REC: 5-11
Minnesota took a 38-7 lead midway thru the 3rd quarter only to fall asleep and allow the Red Raiders to score 31 points in 20 minutes to send it to OT, where the Gophers would get a field goal only to lose on a touchdown. Wow.

Champs Sports Bowl
Maryland 24, Purdue 7
Line: Purdue -1
MY PICK: Maryland 27-24
MY REC: 6-11
Funny how my only win came in the game I cared nothing about and didn't watch a minute of.

And that is the thing about gambling- it's is impossible to actually enjoy the event you are watching when you've got something riding on it. For some people that is the only thrill of watching sports, to have some vested interest in the outcome makes it a more personal experience.

But for me, a diehard sports fan who could watch a meaningless bowl game just for the heck of it, it makes it much harder to watch knowing that each play affects how I will enjoy it.

Bottom line is I'm terrible at picking sports, but I love watching them. So I'm just going to rattle off the score of the next few bowl games, but I'm not going to worry about the picks or over-analyze why I am picking each team.

Maybe then I'll get to enjoy it when a team gags a 31 point lead instead of shouting "WHO CARES IF YOU CAME BACK FROM 31 DOWN YOU STILL DIDN'T F***ING COVER, A-HOLES!!"

Saturday Bowls:

Meineke Car Care Bowl
Boston College vs. Navy
Line: BC -7
MY PICK: Boston College 28-24

Alamo Bowl
Texas vs. Iowa
Line: Texas -9
MY PICK: Texas 44, Iowa 23

Chic-fil-a Bowl
Georgia vs. Virginia Tech
Line: VA Tech -3
MY PICK: Va Tech 24-16

Sunday game:

MPC Computers Bowl
Miami vs. Nevada
Line: Miami - 3 1/2
MY PICK: Nevada 30, Miami 27