Baver's College Football Picks and Colin's Questions.

Before we get started you have been hot picking games all year, are there any games/lines this week that really jump out at you?

I liked Georgia laying three to Missou before the Todd Gurley suspension, but scratch that.  I like TCU getting 8 ½ at Baylor.  Baylor’s offense could not get in gear against Texas last week and face a tougher defense this week against TCU.  I think this game will be tight.  Too many points for Florida State, laying 23 ½ on the road at Syracuse; I like the ‘Cuse.  Bad spot for FSU with Notre Dame on deck.  I still think the Noles are the best team in the land if they play to their potential, but they still haven’t put it all together yet.  And I like Alabama (-9) to bounce back and beat Arkansas soundly.  Not a good matchup at all for Arkansas and their power running game – that’s not the way you beat the Tide.

What is your record against the spread so far this year?

I am 9-6 when responding to your weekly “who do you like” question.  I started 2-4, but have hit 7 of the last 9.  On the Buckeye games, I predicted a 17-point win over Cincy (in the middle of game-week, when the Bucks were around a 15-point favorite), but the line closed at 17.  So, if you view that as me predicting a “push” against Cincy, I am 4-0-1 on the Buckeye games.  I correctly had the Bucks covering against Navy, Kent State and Maryland, and had Va Tech covering against the Bucks. 

Ok, the Buckeyes are off again, which blows. Michigan is playing and they blow too, how bad is Penn State to be dogs to the Wolverines this weekend?

Penn State is a shadow of what they used to be; other than Christian Hackenburg, their talent is down. With the sanctions being lightened and with the James Franklin hire, Penn State should start to pick up the pace in the next few years.  Michigan shouldn’t be as bad as they are, but they are reeling, and Brady Hoke hasn’t a clue on how to fix things.  I would probably have Penn State as a slight favorite over Michigan in this game.  I think this one will be tight, like both of these team’s games against Rutgers….which is a sad statement.

After all the upsets last weekend, does a team from the Big Ten have a shot to make the new four team playoff? If you had to predict the final four today, who would it be?

Nationally, I don’t expect to see any team go undefeated in the regular season, and there will be some very good teams that end up with two losses.  If that is the case, Ohio State and Sparty are definitely still alive.  The winner of their November 8th matchup will also need to win the rest of their games, including the Big Ten championship, and look impressive doing so.  I tend to think the Pac 12 and Big Twelve teams beat each other up, making it hard for a school from each conference to make the playoff.  And I think the SEC gets two teams in the playoff regardless.  I will go with Florida State, Georgia, Auburn and Michigan State as the four playoff teams, but with all the parity this year, it wouldn’t surprise me to see none of those teams make it.

Which running back should be more upset: Amir Abdullah being held to just 49 yards against MSU or Melvin Gordon running for over 250 and the Badgers still lose? 

I think I am ticked off more if I am Melvin Gordon, who Wisconsin should have run more.  Not sure why the Badger coaches decided to throw the ball 29 times, with an anemic passing offense and an elite running game; it makes no sense.  I am not all that surprised that the Sparty defense held Abdullah in check; they aimed to make him a non-factor in the game, and that’s exactly what happened.

Let's wrap up with at least one Buckeye question. Which player on offense and defense do you now think is primed for a breakout year that you didn't four games ago?

On offense, it’s a no-brainer for me – JT Barrett.  I have never seen a first-year starting QB at OSU “get it” so quickly.  He lacks arm strength, but you can get away with that at this level…just ask former Heisman winner Danny Wuerfell.  But other than that, Barrett brings everything else to the table.  He’s already about to the point where he is surpassing Braxton Miller as a decision maker…this comparing Barrett the freshman to Miller the junior.  Barrett is doing a beautiful job running the option and for a kid that has played only five games, he is doing an unbelievable job getting through his progressions and finding the “right” receiver.  With Barrett raising his level of play the way he has, the final four is (I think) surprisingly in play for Ohio State. 

On defense, I have nobody – nothing really that wasn’t expected.  I guess if I have to pick someone, I will say Darron Lee, but you are seeing expected growing pains with him.  On the other hand, I think you can see what kind of talent he has, and I think he will be a star before leaving Ohio State.  Lee is a great athlete that is still learning the position…when he does learn it…look out.

Quinn Fallon Makes His Best Record Yet, "Get a New Ghost" by Los Gravediggers - Colin G.

Quinn Fallon has been an integral part of the Columbus music scene for the better part of two decades, as both a club owner and songwriter. The latest release by his band Los Gravediggers, Get a New Ghost, is available this month and the CD release party is Friday October 10th at King 5. Doors at 8 p.m. and Erica Blinn opens the show at 9. Quinn was nice enough to answer a few of my questions while slinging drinks at his kick-ass bar Little Rock. 

Colin G. - You have made good records as a solo artist and as the leader of The X-Rated Cowboys and Los Gravediggers, but the early buzz is that this is your best release and after listening I agree with the hype. Do you feel this is your best work to date and if so, what makes this record different from your past releases? 

Best release?  Hopefully, but it's by far my favorite.  Everything that happened with the Cowboys was very organic and it was exciting to write in a couple of genres that were newer to me.  Then with the first Gravediggers record - which is basically a well-produced publishing demo - I really got to work on my pop smarts and, for the first time ever, was making conscious decisions to make the music as accessible as possible.  Then on this record I threw all that crap out the window.  I really just wrote what I had to write and I did not have to look very far for inspiration.  I don't feel feel like I wrote several of them, they almost occurred to me as opposed to working on them.

C.G. - Andy Harrison and Dan Baird seem to be your personal production team. How did that pairing come together and how do they compliment each other in the studio? 

I have been friends with Andy forever and it was Andy who brought in Dan to work on the second Cowboys' CD, Saddest Day.  I think I pretty much hated him and swore I would never work with him again.  A few months later I started to realize how much better I liked Saddest Day than the first record and steeled myself to work with him again on our third record.  That one was a cake-walk, everyone was done trying to mark their territory, I suppose.

I did not single them out in the credits, but Dan produced a batch by himself, Andy did a batch by himself and then they did five tunes together.  They have a great back & forth and a real easy way of working together, plus they are both killer guitar players.  They also make things pretty relaxed in the studio, which makes it easy to get the right vibe on some songs.  They are a great fit for my stuff.

C.G. - Boy, you have got some heavy hitters on project. Tell the folks about a couple of the players helping out and what it was like to watch them perform on your songs? 

We were very fortunate to have some great players sit in on some of the tunes.  Al Perkins played on a majority of the songs of Get a New Ghost and I believe it was the third time he has done a session for the Gravediggers.  Al played on records from Dylan, the Stones, the Flying Burrito Brothers - of which he was a member - and about 1,000 others, so it was a real honor.

He is an amazing musician and such a gent!  We always have to spend about five minutes yelling curse words and worse before he shows up to record.  He is a devout Christian and will walk out of a session if someone takes the Lord's name in vain. 

Dan brought in Brad Pemburton to play on five tracks.  He is a member of Ryan Adams' band - the Cardinals - and he also plays with Brendan Benson, as well as Bobby Keys. Really cool guy, super-chill and he beats the shit out of his drums!  Fearless.

I snagged the opening spot for Bobby Keys when he played at Woodland's in October, 2012 and got to hang out with him a couple minutes after the show.  I told him we had debuted a song that night that I had stolen from the title of his autobiography called "If Every Night Was a Saturday Night."  He seemed genuinely flattered and said he would be happy to play on it next time I was in Nashville, and much to my surprise he did.

Worth noting that Bobby's band had Brad on drums and Dan on lead vocal & guitar. Yup, they are awesome.

I am very lucky to play with the caliber of guys who are in the Gravediggers.  Matt Mees on drums, Mark Nye on bass, Jake Reis on guitar and occasionally Andy Harrison on guitar as well, but no one's schedule was lining up to cut the final batch of songs cut for the record and I couldn't picture Get a New Ghost without some of these songs on it.

C.G. - Speaking personally, I know you went through the some tough times before recording this album. Do you feel that had an influence on your writing? 

Everything that was happening in my life bled over into the record.  In the span of a short time, I lost my Mom, split with my wife and had to leave our house in Clintonville, all while running a brand-new business.  And this was all on the heels of having lost Andy Davis and my Dad in the two years before that.  Some of these songs I just reached up and snagged out of the ether, as opposed to sitting down and working on.

I coasted quite a while just focusing on the bar and this record, not really facing up to everything that had happened.  I always said the Fallon family motto is "Drink & Repress."

I tried to make sure none of the lyrics came across like journal entries, but yes, there is some really personal stuff on there.

C.G. - What three songs should people make sure to check out on your record? 

"Ain't Gonna Live Forever."  This is important to me as it's a bit of a rallying cry to not cave in no matter how appealing that would be.

"Yesterday's Girl."  This was in the maybe pile and I was nervous to show it to everyone.  It felt unfinished, it was just verse, chorus, verse, chorus, chorus, chorus.  Ridiculous arrangement, but we recorded it just how I wrote it,  It's got this whole Petty vibe and it's really pissed off and fun to listen to, always my favorite combination.

"Wings Made of Whiskey."  No getting around this.  One of the songs of Ghost that directly addresses the end of my marriage.  I feel like I would not have been capable of writing those lyrics a few years back and I like how greasy the band feels.  Kinda reminds me of a Westerberg ballad.  Really pretty if you just want a casual listen, but pretty devastating if you wanna dig deeper.

Colin Gawel started Pencilstorm on a slow morning at Colin's Coffee. You can learn more about him and other Pencilstorm contributors by clicking here.

Tribe Time - Three Action Items for the Front Office by Jim Brazytis

Now that the Indians season is over it’s time we reflect on – hold on, I’m taking a deep breath, trying not to get too choked up. 

Oh forget it! I’m not going to look back on six months of average baseball featuring a team that couldn’t hit or catch a ball…..I’m looking forward to the future, to 2015, when the green grass and red clay of a shining Progressive Field plays host to the 114th year of professional baseball in Cleveland.

Excuse me as I step off my soapbox. Unfortunately, to envision the future we must explore the past. Based on what we - Indians fans - witnessed this summer, what do the Indians need to do to once again reach the postseason and hopefully win the World Series? Here are three bold actions the front office must take in order to position the Tribe for a postseason run in 2015:

Shed Some Fat

The salaries of Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher comprise nearly 40% of the Indians payroll! That means 40% of the payroll not living up to the contracts they signed in 2013. Bourn and Swisher have two years left on these “anchors” and now is the time to cut them loose. Unfortunately you couldn’t move Swisher with a bulldozer, diminishing power numbers and the knees of 80-year old have “do not touch” written on Brohio’s back. 

So, that leaves Bourn as the “most likely underachiever” to be jettisoned to a new team. According to www.IntheMitt.com, some possible homes for Bourn are Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Detroit and Toronto. By moving Bourn, the Indians will free up some cash to sign a much needed free agent bat, plus get a player in return, perhaps a pitcher like Toronto’s A.J. Happ (also rumored to be on the block according to www.IntheMitt.com), that can help strengthen the starting rotation, especially when the Indians take this next action. 

Use the High Heater in the Trade Market

The Indians don’t have many assets to offer up in the trade market due to a lackluster farm system and an average Major League roster, but we all know what teams crave – pitching, especially young, power pitching. Thus, I present the trade of Danny Salazar. Salazar has been up & down in his two years with the big club, and even though his fastball hits 100 mph, it’s straight as an arrow. So where do you trade him and for what? How about sending him to Arizona straight up for Mike Trumbo or packaging him with Bourn and Lonnie Chisenhall to the Marlins for Giancarlo Stanton? Come on, let me dream a little. Salazar is a valuable commodity and should be used while he’s still considered a prospect.
Spend Some Money. Wisely.

The Indians are in desperate need of offense! The Wahoos need hitters that get on base, move runners and, most importantly, get them across the plate. I understand the Dolans have been burned by the less than dynamic duo of Swisher and Bourn, but I believe they still must trust their baseball people and shop on the free agent market. Strong bats like Michael Morse, Michael Cuddyer and Chase Headley can help, as well as the continued development of their own players like Tyler Holt and Zach Walters. 

I’m not saying these are the actual moves that will be made, but it should be the general direction. The Indians need to clear salary to obtain pieces that will help them win games, not just take up spots on the roster (calling Bourn, Swisher and Kipnis). Secondly, the team should deal from a position of strength and trade Salazar for another bat, or even a dependable fielder, which they can certainly use. And once they’ve cleared some salary, spend wisely on the free agent market for more offense.

I’m looking forward: forward to a winter of Hot Stove action and a summer of Indians baseball where the players live up to their contracts, the offense isn’t offensive and the Tribe’s back to October baseball. Indian Fever…..be a believer!!!

Jim Brazytis is a 43-year old amateur athlete still waiting for the scouts to find him at his "old man" baseball league games. A life-long Clevelander, he has suffered through decades of losing sports teams and heartache while waiting for some Cleveland professional sports team team, besides the Cleveland Crunch, to win a championship.

Sunday Browns Talk from Half of the North Shore Posse

Unfortunately K-Dubs the Soldier took the "U's" loss to G. Tech pretty badly and is currently in a Lake County holding cell. We here at Pencilstorm expect to have him back on board by next week

So without my trusted yet ornery colleague, here is my (Big $'s) take on the current state of the Browns. Remember to follow us @northcoastposse for thoughts and comments throughout the game.......

With the much ballyhooed bye week in the rear view mirror,  what do we know about the 2014 Browns?

First things 1st, I think we have learned that The Steelers and Saints may have entered the season slightly overrated.

I have also discovered that 15 years of the crap we've been subjected to as Browns fans has left me with a thick shell of ambivalence. This shell will not be cracked by a perceived "change of attitude" but by concrete results. My memory is not what it used to be, but it does still recall close losses and blown leads during the Chudzinski era. This is by no means a defense of Coach Chud, but rather an indictment of Browns fans who have changed perceptions while still watching games slip away on Sundays. I'll jump on the "half full" bandwagon when the team consistently wins games it's supposed to. Today will go a long way towards that end.

I believe we can safely say that the "q.b. competition" was chum used to attract a national media presence. Hoyer is a leader, case closed.

It's also time to admit that the rabid local and national media attention paid to Johnny, should of focused on the holes on defense. The tackling is atrocious and the Browns seem out-schemed when it matters most. I am most concerned about the Gilbert/Haden c.b. combo. If they don't improve, even the creampuffs on the schedule will find a way to exploit this tandem in the pass-happy world of today's NFL.

Last but not least, the special teams simply suck. The Browns need to pick up Matt Prater, get him a driver, and team him up with a certain beleaguered w.r. Not only does this make football sense but the revenue lost by the slow death of Johnny mania could be replaced by the potential Prater/Gordon reality show possibilities.

What do we expect in week 5?

The theme of my entries thus far has definitely been "tempered exuberance." No matter what improvements we think we're seeing its still a 1 and 2 football team traveling to Tennessee. The Titans are a mess, but as far as I can tell the Browns are much closer to being a mess than elite. I'm by no means at a point where I can expect or predict a Browns win on the road. Titans 24 Browns 17.

Where would I start LeBron this week?

Although my post-bye week assessment indicates that I see several holes on the field, I have to use King James' many talents to replace the sycophantic stylings of Nathan Zegura. He is so incapable of conveying any anti-Browns opinion I expect that he is somehow tied into "rebate-gate." LBJ hosted SNL, so doing a couple hours of Browns radio/tv per day would be a breeze.

Watershed Opening For Cheap Trick! House of Blues, Myrtle Beach, S.C., Friday Oct. 3rd

Folks, it's been a long time coming, but the stars have finally aligned and Watershed will be reclaiming their rightful role as the ultimate opening act for Cheap Trick,  Friday October 3rd at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, SC. 

If you have a pulse or have read the best selling book Hitless Wonder, I don't have to tell you: Cheap Trick + Watershed + a great venue + the beach = miss this and you are a chump.

Click here for a link to tickets

Click here to read The Complete Cheap Trick Song Rankings which explains why Cheap Trick is America's greatest rock band and why Watershed opening makes the night extra special.           

OK, got your tickets? These two hotels are right by the HOB, on the beach and personally recommended.

Click here for Ocean Creek Resort. Rooms at $100, right on the beach. 

Click here for North Beach Plantation. Rooms around $110

There you go. 

Get busy living or get busy regretting 

See you there. - Colin G.

Baver's Buckeye Bag - 10/1/14

Baver’s Buckeye Bag, 10/1/14

Some quick thoughts on the Cincy game and where the Bucks stand heading into Big Ten play:

--The 3 long TD’s by Cincy WR Chris Moore are hard to swallow, but to some extent, that’s the downside of playing tight coverage with young DB’s.  On the other hand, giving up an 83-yard TD with 26 seconds to go in the 2nd quarter, where the Bucks had no safety help and should have been in prevent mode, is inexcusable.  Still, I wouldn’t dwell on this.  At this point, I still have faith DC Chris Ash will eventually right the ship.

--The Buckeye O-line played their best game of the year this past Saturday, and there appears to be some light at the end of the tunnel.  OSU tailback Ezekiel Elliott also answered some questions with a huge game.  Look for Zeke to be “the man” at TB for the Bucks, health permitting, for the foreseeable future.  Too many OSU fans seem to be enamored with Rod Smith, but I saw way more out of Elliott Saturday than I’ve ever seen out of Smith.

--I think most fans’ expectations were too high headed into this season.  Imagine that?  This Buckeye team is about where I thought they would be after four games, and maybe a tad better.  (This…despite their 3-1 record, while being a double-digit favorite in all four games.)  There were just too many talented players that had to be replaced with inexperienced players, especially after Braxton went down.  I think too many fans were shocked by OSU’s performance against Va Tech, and they shouldn’t have been.

--JT Barrett is coming along nicely and is going to eventually be a stud.  Yes, the competition since Va Tech has been pretty poor, but Barrett can throw the football.  We already knew he had good mobility and great leadership skills, but boy does Barrett throw a pretty ball as well. 

--Is everything hunky-dory?  No.  This O-line is still going to have major problems against the better D-lines they face.  On the other side of the ball, this defense would give up a ton of points if they had to face a top tier offense like Oregon’s or Baylor’s.  And the D-backfield would be no match against elite WR’s like the group Alabama has. 

--A quick look at the futures that sporstbook.ag has for OSU games:  OSU is: a 7-pt favorite over PSU, a 3-pt dog to Sparty, and an 18.5-pt favorite over Michigan.  Guessing some OSU fans are writing off Penn State after they laid an egg against Northwestern, but I wouldn’t.  And I wouldn’t automatically chalk up a win versus UM, as Michigan will likely play their best game of the year against Ohio State, with or without Brady Hoke.

Now let’s look at the Big Ten opener at Maryland Saturday:

Some books have this game off the board with Maryland QB CJ Brown being questionable.  The books that have lines currently have OSU laying 7 ½.  If Brown can’t go, the Terps will go with Caleb Rowe.  Rowe can’t run the option like Brown, but has a much better arm.  Maryland head coach Randy Edsall has said they will not decide on a QB until the day of the game.  If Brown is able to go but is less than 100%, it may benefit Maryland to play both QB’s.  That strategy would seem to make some sense against a young Buckeye defense that has been overwhelmed at times this year.

Regardless of who starts at QB, the biggest test for the Buckeye defense will be containing WR Stephon Diggs, who has 29 catches for 398 yards and 2 TD’s for Maryland on the year.  Diggs, who appeared close to committing to Ohio State in 2012, is also an electric KO return man, and will eventually be playing on Sundays in the NFL.  Look for Diggs to exploit some of the Buckeyes problems in their secondary and/or special teams on Saturday.

On the other side of the ball, Maryland simply cannot stop the run; so, look for a heavy dose of Ezekiel Elliott again this week, with JT Barrett getting in the mix with designed runs.  Maryland did a great job defending Indiana’s passing attack, as they got pressure on the quarterback for much of the game last week.

With this being the first true road atmosphere for the Bucks this season, I expect the Buckeye youngsters to get out of rhythm at times in College Park Saturday.  In the end, however, I think Bucks make enough big plays, like they did against Navy, to bring home the win.  The call: Ohio State 38 Maryland 27.