A word about the betting strategy - if I can grace it with something that sounds so formal and so well thought out . I like to bet against bad teams. Can that surprise anyone who has read more than two of these things? I believe that bad teams find ways to lose games and find ways to make a bad loss into a humiliating rout. So very often, my selections here will not be based on any great faith in the side that I am taking; rather, it is a faith that the other side will find a way to screw up.

I'll keep track of bets for the season and use the standard Las Vegas odds of laying 11 to win 10 (or in Vegas Sports Book parlance “minus 110”). And I really don't like to do much wagering early in the season until some kind of form emerges to demonstrate who is playing well and who just plain stinks. So three small wagers are all I have for this first week.

I like Minnesota and Chicago to go over 45.5 on Sunday and will wager a mythical $55 there. Neither defense is particularly strong and both offenses move the ball well.

I like Atlanta and SF to stay under 46.5 on Sunday. I'll put a mythical $55 here too. The reasoning here is that I really don't like the SF offense even against an Atlanta defense that is no great shakes. Both teams will prefer to run the ball.

I'll put a mythical $55 on Jax minus 10.5 over Cleveland. The Browns will stink this year and probably for another year or two at least.

The Tennessee Titans coaching staff must agree with me at least partially. They signed Michael Booker the day after the Chiefs cut him. The Cleveland coaching staff must have seen game films that were altered by the Ruling Council of the Planet Zeembo because they signed Doug Pederson who was cut by the Eagles and who was miserable in just about every facet of the game last year. Or maybe the Browns' staff has a thing about Eagle castoffs in the back-up QB role since it was the injury to Ty “Me Kangaroo Down” Detmer that opened up this job for Pederson. Now, if Doug gets hurt, I hear that King Hill has been working out…

Yesterday, I mentioned the Miami Hurricanes tough season opener with McNeese State but neglected to mention that Nebraska opens with a nailbiter against the San Jose State Spartans. I must have slept through that part of my World History class; I don't remember the people of Sparta sailing to the west coast of North America. The line is Nebraska minus 50; the outcome of the contest will not be in doubt after the coin toss. And for the record, there is no line on the Miami/McNeese State game.

Notre Dame opens against Texas A&M this weekend and then looks down the barrel of a schedule that reads Nebraska, Purdue, Michigan State… After a losing season last year, it is unlikely that the alums will look favorably on an 0-4 start. Bob Davie is definitely on the hotseat. Here is a prediction:

If Davie is fired at Notre Dame, Tom Coughlin will be the leading candidate for the job.

The NCAA gurus who regulate when a coach can talk to a potential recruit and who regulate if a “student athlete” can sell a CD of country and western songs seem not to worry any more about college “student athletes” associating with and playing against professionals. It seems that the Grand Rapids Hoops and the Yakima Sun Kings of the CBA will play a series of games against college teams as part of their pre-season.

And the saga of Melvin Whittaker continues. Melvin is a 6'10” center who was one of those “diaper dandies” about 4 or 5 years ago. He committed to go to Virginia but never quite made it to the basketball court because he wound up in criminal court and served some time for malicious wounding. It seems that he took exception to something about a U-Va football player and slashed him with a box cutter. The Cavaliers decided that they could do without him because they assessed - correctly - that he was not likely to go down in history in the same category as Thomas Jefferson. Melvin went to the “Crossbars Hilton” for a while; and while learning to make license plates there, he was offered a scholarship by Mount Saint Mary's. But after he got out he broke his ankle or leg or some part of his lower extremities and could not play. Then last spring he was “dismissed from the university for academic deficiencies”; we used to call that “flunking out”. Well, Melvin is back at Mount Saint Mary's after some rigorous summer school academic pursuits at Montclair State; and according to a press release from the SID, he will be eligible to play in December if he maintains a 2.0 average in the first semester. I would only add that they also have to keep him away from any box cutters and football players.

But don't get me wrong, I love sports...