Football Four Play

[Raji]

I hate to start the year off with an apology, but I apologize.



For a change, it’s not because I’ve just finished feeding you a week’s worth of losing plays. It’s because I’m starting the season a week late.



I was overseas last week, bouncing around Scotland in an attempt to rediscover my roots, mostly in the bottom of pint glasses in pubs from Glasgow to Edinburgh to the Hebrides and stops in between.



It was a trip I couldn’t pass up, though it meant missing the first Saturday of the beloved college football season.



I saw and learned many wonderful things in my travels, however. I briefly feared for my life at a Celtic football match among 65,000 mad supporters. I often feared for my life while driving on the left hand side of the road on what have to be the most psychotically winding and narrow highways in the world.



And I also learned that you haven’t seen drunk until you’ve seen Scottish drunk. Seeing hundreds of glaze-eyed Scots roam the streets of Glasgow, belting out football tunes at five in the afternoon on a Wednesday before a Scotland-Northern Ireland friendly is a scene I won’t soon forget.



And then there was the betting. It’s legal there, as you likely know and this, my betting friends, is a glorious thing. You can’t walk around a corner without bumping into a betting shop over there.



For those who have been to Las Vegas, this is completely different. Las Vegas - to me at least - feels more like a dream than reality with all the blinging lights and giant odds boards.



Of course betting is legal there - it’s a fantasy land.



But betting here was something you could feel was ingrained in the culture as naturally as the rolling ‘r’s and kilted gentleman. The books just felt like any other shop - like a local grocer with all the groceries taken out of it.



It was a grittier, grass roots feel and I liked it. It’s something I could get used to.



I was down about 150 pounds on three different wagers by the time I reached my final day in the old country. But by last Saturday, I was getting a pretty good feel for both the Scottish Premier League and the English Premiership and I was ready to make some money back.



I hit a two-game parlay – “doubles” as they call it - on a Bolton-West Brom draw and an Arsenal victory and made 160 pounds back to enable me to leave the place with a little sanity.



Now it’s back to the world of illegal online gambling where I must make my dodgy wagers in front of a computer screen.



On to my first crack at picks for the season. Last year I went 32-29 against the number, and my aim is to finish above .500 for the season.



Gasp! I’m turning into Notre Dame!



Georgia Tech vs. Boston College (-7, 38)



Paul Johnson’s first big test with his new school takes him to Beantown, where oddsmakers feel he’ll learn a lesson in what ACC rivalries are all about.



What they couldn’t forsee, though, was Hanna. As in Tropical Storm Hanna. The storm will sweep through the East Coast, with some winds and heavy rains expected to hit Boston on Saturday.



That will give the Jackets’ new running game a better chance to at least cover the number against a tough BC run defense that will have a hard time with its footing with over an inch of rain expected.



Pick: Georgia Tech +7



Mississippi vs. Wake Forest (-8, 40)



We might have some teams that don’t finish with great records in the SEC this year, but I don’t think we can say there are any bad teams in the conference this year.



Houston Nutt has his team fired up in his first season with Ole Miss, which was obvious after the Rebs steamrolled over Memphis last week. Wake’s coaches have marveled at how physical Ole Miss was in that game and they’re bracing for a tough one.



Hanna is expected to hit the Carolinas the hardest, so expect weather to be a factor in this game too.



Pick: Ole Miss +8



Central Michigan vs. Georgia (-24, 56 ½)



I can see this one getting ugly.



Pick: Georgia -24



Miami vs. Florida (-23, 51 ½)



It’s good to see this rivalry renewed for the first time since 2004. I love Florida’s squad, but this is the year Miami puts its issues behind it and moves toward a new era.



I expect a Gators win, but a tenacious effort from the Canes that will keep it closer than the line suggests.



Pick: Miami +23


Raji