Don't Forget! Picks Over On NEW Brentoons Bama Blog!

My weekly college football picks are over here on the new "Brentoons BAMA Blog"...!

Roll Tide!

Google 'FLINTSTONES' Doodle Celebrates Iconic Cartoon's 50th Anniversary

Click the title of this post to read the entire story!

"The Flintstones" was the first, and the longest running, animated situation comedy shown in prime-time television, according to the Museum of Broadcast Communications. It debuted on ABC in September 1960 and was modeled after "The Honeymooners." It was not actually branded as "children's programming" until NBC started re-airing it in 1967. It broke ground because cartoons in that era typically only lasted a few minutes; this was the first show to stretch one story into a full half hour.

TRUE STORY: Owner of SEGWAY Corp. Drives One Off Cliff, Dies

Wow!
The only thing more awesome would have been if he were the actual inventor!
Read the full story HERE .

NEW Non-Toon Stuff ONLY Blog Coming!

Be on the lookout for my NEW, NON-Cartoon blog shortly. I will be creating another blog just for my sports (Mostly Crimson Tide) picks and commentary. This necessary in order to keep my rants and raves over there from being a distraction to the purpose of THIS blog.
THIS blog will continue to be about cartoons, comics, illustration and other points of interest. Of interest to ME. I will be showcasing designs and updates to my work and projects here.

WOW! Ingram, The TIDE Pull It Out!

TIDE WINS! TIDE WINS!

Talk about a 'nail-biter'! Ryan Mallett and the 10th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks took advantage of a tentative, young BAMA secondary to take a 20-7 lead, but the CRIMSON TIDE fought back with three picks and a late Mark Ingram touchdown to top the Hawgs 24-20.

Hard-fought, tough SEC matchup by some tough teams. Arkansas shouldn't drop too much after this game, but the pollsters are a bit unpredictable.

Auburn stymied my picks by taking advantage of a couple of Stephen Garcia fumbles (from HARD, clean licks, I might add) and an interception of his backup. Another tough nail-biter.

Ole Miss even got lucky and beat Fresno St. Houston Nutt's Akbars live to fight another week.

Mississippi State...?? Are you KIDDING me...? Boy, is Mark Richt ever on the hot seat... AGAIN...!

UCLA upset Texas in one NOBODY saw coming.

Boise State foiled my upset pick by making some big plays.

I LOVE college football.

P.S.: NOTE TO EVERYONE- Functions, showers, Weddings and ALL non-football-related events should NOT be scheduled during FOOTBALL SEASON. This makes for poor attendance, and for a miserable experience for the half of the guests who can't concentrate on the festivities.

Just sayin'......

BAMA QB Greg McElroy KNOWS People

Great article over on TideSports.com about THE University of ALABAMA Quarterback Greg McElroy and the people he knows.

This piece offers great insight on how some folks --many of them prominent and influential-- are impressed by this young man.

Roll Tide, Greg!

This Week's Picks

Alright! Week four of college football, and here are my usual predictions and picks. THIS edition includes one big upset pick, a little later in the post.

THE University of Alabama opens up their SEC play with a trip up to Fayetteville to face the 10th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks.
In a game to be nationally televised by CBS, all the hype seems to be about Ryan Mallett's arm and the Hogs' high-powered passing attack. Much like last year, I expect The Tide to be all up in his grill, and I hope our young secondary can cover their speedy receivers. Look for the Bama 'D' to put a 'Colt McCoy' on Mallett.
Offensively, I see The Tide's initial plan to be a grinding, power ground-control strategy to keep the Razorbacks off the field. Possibly two 100-yard rushers...? If it does, however, turn into a foot-race.... I still like our chances. A poised McElroy and fleet of hungry receivers?
Pick: ALABAMA 42, Arkansas 20.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This season, as in the past, I WILL be continuing my ritual of consuming representations of our opponent. This week I will be having bacon and other forms of pork yet to be determined!)

Everyone Else

SEC:

South Carolina 24, auburn 21 Spurrier is a little more slick.

Florida 31, Kentucky 24 Gators start to gel after tense 3 1/2 quarters.

Georgia 24, Mississippi State 17 MSU comes alive, but Georgia finally puts one together.
LSU 31, West Virginia 28 Tigers pull one out in raucous Baton Rouge night game.

tennessee 5, UAB 3

Fresno State 28, Ole Miss 14 Akbars are in trouble.

National:
TCU 31, SMU 14
Texas 31, UCLA 14
Penn State 21, Temple 10
Oregon 28, Arizona St. 20
Stanford 35, Notre Dame 21
Oklahoma 49, Cincinnati 24

UPSET ALERT!

Oregon State 31, Boise State 27 Mike Riley is the giant-killer.

On a totally relevant and related note, I've been calling local talk and sport radio stations with picks and commentary using the name "Cook". I then, to their surprise, do a long Beano Cook impersonation to spice up the shows.
A little self-gratification, if you will.

Ole Miss...?? REALLY....??

Vanderbilt 28, Mississippi 14

Yep. You read correctly.

Once again, Ole Miss and Notre Dame blew my picks right out of the water. I was right on all but two games, and this one REALLY deserves some attention.

Here, in honor of the whole 'offensive Colonel Dixie' and 'Vote for Admiral Akbar' new mascot snafus, is my offering:

HOTTY & TOTTY

MY Mascot idea combines the best of the old and the best of the new into a classic, one-of-a-kind never-before seen team representative: Lovebugs! It appropriately incorporates the classic Colonel Rebel icon with the new Admiral Akbar character into a brand-new, easily-recognizeable and definitely unique symbol!

The Colonel sports his cane, a mint julep, his pipe and a Rebel flag; the updated Admiral waves HIS version of a rebel flag, waves a pom-pom, and in the TRUE spirit of Ole Miss is holding a draft beer and a water bong! Even MORE true-to-life: THEY'RE PERPETUALLY SCREWED!

IN NO WAY CAN THIS BE ANY MORE EMBARRASSING TO THE CONFERENCE THAN THE ACTUAL PLAY OF THE FOOTBALL TEAM.

My Picks For This Weekend

Well, last week I did pretty decent, except my choosing of tennessee over Oregon. I also missed on Miami-Ohio St. and Michigan's squeaker over Notre Dame.
I don't care about any of these teams anyway, so 'Whatevah!'

Now for THIS week:
S.E.C.-
ALABAMA 42, Duke 3 If The Tide steps it up a notch, this could be a shutout.
Florida 21, tennessee 7 Will probably be ugly.
Arkansas 35, Georgia 21 Should be the most interesting matchup of the weekend.
Ole Miss 5, Vandy 3 Akbars can score, but can they stop even the 'Dores...?
LSU 21, Mississippi St. 20 Bulldogs keep getting closer and closer. Miles is due to blow one.
Kentucky 28, Akron 14
South Carolina 42, Furman 17
auburn 24, Clemson 21 Too much orange. Both Tigers.

Top 25
Ohio St. 35, Ohio 14
Penn St. 24, Kent St. 7
Texas 31, Texas Tech 28
Notre Dame 17, Michigan St. 14
Boise St. 28, Wyoming 14
Utah 21, New Mexico 14
USC 21, Minnesota 10
BYU 21, Florida St. 14
TCU 35, Baylor 20
Oklahoma 31, Air Force 10


That's all I have to say about that.

BAMA-Spurrier Scheduling Trivia

This season, beginning this Saturday (September 18), THE University of ALABAMA will play all former and current college teams that Steve Spurrier coached.
In chronological order.
Duke. The Blue Devils job was The Ol' Ball Coach's first head coaching gig.
Florida. Spurrier's alma mater and the site of his greatest success.
South Carolina. Currently, the Gamecocks are finally playing closer to his expectations. That will all come crashing to a halt when the meet The TIDE.

Well, I thought it was interesting, anyway.

On a totally unrelated note, I had a customer use the term "Shipoopy!" as an expression of disgust and disappointment. I thought it was cool.

Today's Picks (Just In Time...!)

Wow!
Last week, I was VERY surprised by Jacksonville State's upset of a way-ahead Ole Miss Rebels squad. I haven't seen a collapse like that since BAMA's DuBose era. Look for MY new Ole Miss mascot here in a couple of days...!

This Weeks SEC Picks:

ALABAMA 45, Penn State 17. Great matchup. Love Coach JoePa! Watched the replay of the 1979 Sugar Bowl this morning! The Tide is currently just too strong, though, and will have to TRY not to make it an even bigger blowout. RTR

Florida 24, South Florida 10
Arkansas 42, Louisiana-Monroe 21
LSU 27, Vandy 7

NOW for the HARD ones:
UPSET ALERT! Tennessee 21, Oregon 20 As much as I hate the viles, I like Derek Dooley. The son of legendary Georgia Coach Vince Dooley and a former Nick Saban assistant, DD will unfortunately probably do well with tennessee. Crap.

Speaking of Georgia, their matchup with South Carolina now has more twists than schoolgirl's French braids...!! Both teams were highly-regarded pre-season, but with all of the drama and suspensions....who knows..?? Spurrier's crafty, but without his big guns, what will happen?
A.J. Green's suspension on the Bulldog end takes away their most potent offensive weapon, so it will be interesting to see how they adapt. USC 24, Georgia 20

NATIONAL SCENE:
UMiami 24, Ohio State 20
Texas 35, Wyoming 14
Oklahoma 28, Florida State 27
Notre Dame 21, Michigan 17

WOW! First Weekend of College Football!

Jacksonville State...? Seriously....?

I can't believe that Ole Miss let this team come back on them. Boy, talk about a 'hot seat' for Houston Nutt. The Rebel faithful will be ALL over this!

I will be posting my suggestions for the new mascot later today! (Stay tuned!)

And Les Miles didn't do himself any favors, either, by having his LSU defense allow a comeback scare by a North Carolina Tarheels squad with 14 starters suspended...! (Memo to self: Check out the Tigah fan blogs....!)

One last observation: Boise State actually looked better than I thought they would. They played Virginia Tech hard, and the Hokies couldn't over-come their OWN mistakes to pull this one out.

First Picks of the Season!

Okay.

New season. New players. ALABAMA's not 'defending' their National Championship. They're trying to win another. Here's hoping that they DO.

I was a little sad that we didn't have a 'marquee' game, taking center stage with sole possession of the national spotlight. With the 'creampuff', The TIDE will be able to rotate players, giving many younger and freshman players 'game experience'. (Though they probably get more competition in practice! Just sayin'...!) San Jose State MIGHT score 3, but I doubt it.

I have been unable to be at my computer, so I missed picking Thursday's games. Here, for MY enjoyment, are this week's SEC picks, followed by some national ones.

THE University of ALABAMA 54, SJSU 0 (First-string sits after 4-score 1st qtr)

Florida 56, Miami, OH 14 (Post-Tebow, Gators air it out)

Arkansas 42, Tennessee Tech 17 (Mallett puts up big numbers against patsies)

LSU 49, North Carolina 14 (NC uses freshmen due to suspensions)

Georgia 45, La-Lafayette 10

Ole Miss 35, Jax St. 14

Kentucky 24, Louisville 21

Tennessee 3, UT-Martin 2

Mississippi State 17, Memphis 14

Vanderbilt 10, Northwestern 9

auburn 45, Arkansas State 10

South Alabama 35, Pikeville 17

Texas 66, Rice 21

TCU 14, Oregon St 13

Oklahoma 49, Utah St. 21

Nebraska 38, Western Kentucky 7

Penn State 45, Youngstown St 10

Florida State 77, Samford 3

W. Virginia 55, Coastal Carolina 14

Monday:

Virginia Tech 35, Boise St. 20 (Shut up & sit down, Boise!)