SuperContest - Week 7

If you want to see how the pros really do this, you can follow the Hilton SuperContest on Twitter at @HiltonContest - they give you updates on how the best are doing and they are way better than me.

If you still are trying to make money off of my picks, good luck, but here we go for Week 7. At least I got the Buffalo Bills pick right last week.

Browns +14 over Saints - New Browns QB Colt McCoy looked frisky last week and has played in big games. Could this be another draft steal? The Saints finally showed life last week in crushing the Bucs, but they aren't the same offense that won the Super Bowl. The Browns keep it close.

49ers -3 over Panthers - The 49ers have been very inconsistent but are coming off a big win. The Panthers are one of the worst teams in the NFL and are going back to QB Matt Moore. The Niners should win this game handily, look for big games from Frank Gore and Michael Crabtree.

Bears -3 over Redskins - Another game of two teams that have won games they had no business winning and when that starts happening you have to watch out. Those teams can get on a run and if everything is going right, they gain confidence, which leads to a Super Bowl run. The Bears at home will get this win, but look out Jay Cutler for Brian Orakpo coming off the edge.

Steelers -3 over Dolphins - The Dolphins are coming off a huge road win last week and the Steelers are most pundits "best team at the moment". With the return of Big Ben the Steelers are now a threat on offence to go along with their lock down defence. Dolphins don't have enough weapons to hang.

Ravens -14 over Bills - Ohhhh the poor Bills. The Ravens lost an overtime game last week vs. the Patriots that they should have won and will take out there frustration on the lowly Bills. The Bills can't stop the run, so Ray Rice should have plenty of yards by the end of the day. The Bills can't stop the pass or rush the passer, so Joe Flacco should have lots of time in the pocket to find open receivers. The Bills will continue their push for 0-16

SuperContest - Week 6

This is not going very well...I've already lost count of my record, and it is just very lucky that I actually didn't put up the $1500 to be in this contest.

As many of the sports talk people have mentioned the last couple of weeks the underdogs are taking over. They are something like 16 games over .500 for the season which hurts everyone's pocket.

Well, with all that said, let's see if I can make a move up the imaginary standings. One quick aside - if you didn't see my tweet the other week, I was very impressed with myself on two betting ventures. The first was the over/under baseball contest from Vegas Watch. In this contest you picked 10 teams, and based on the Vegas line, would they go over or under their season win total. Out of the 260 people who entered the contest, I finished 17th and nailed the tie breaker exactly - what will be David Wright's slugging percentage. I guessed that in April! This was a huge improvement over last season when I finished 260th...no joke. The other success was my fantasy baseball league with 15 random strangers who follow the @montreal_expos on twitter. It was a very competitive league and I ended up on top led by strong pitching (Halladay and Jiminez) and some good power up the middle (Tulowitzki and Josh Hamilton). Giving myself a pat on the back.

Now on to the picks...
Chargers -8 over Rams: This is when the Chargers normally heat up. Plus they caved and brought Marcus McNeil back and Vincent Jackson is on his way back as well. All adds up well for the San Diego Super Chargers.

Falcons +3 over Eagles: The Eagles are smoke and mirrors right now. We don't know who will be at QB (Kolb or Vick) and they just traded for a running back who as 12 carries on the season (Jerome Harrison). The Falcons are for real and will separate themselves from the rest of the NFC with this win on the road.

Seahawks +7 over Bears: Even though the Bears are 4-1 they have been so lucky. Last week with only 36 yards passing and 4 interceptions, they managed to win by 17 points! This can't continue and even though the Seahawks are bad, they should be able to keep this one close with their stout defence.

Steelers -14 over Browns: Both teams start QB's for the first time this season, the Steelers bring back Ben Roethlisberger after his suspension and the Browns start rookie Colt McCoy after both Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace are ruled out with ankle injuries. The Steelers defence will be too much for the rookie and the infusion of Big Ben into the Steelers offence, this one should be over after the first half.

Raiders +7 over 49ers: The 49ers were supposed to win the division and their owner still believes it is possible. The Raiders were supposed to be epic bad, but have been frisky in all their games and won against the Chargers last weekend relying on defence and special teams. The 49ers haven't shown anything to be favored by this many points, so the Raiders is the pick.

Here is one more just pick for fun...

Bye -3 over Buffalo Bills: The Bills just can't win no matter who they are playing. Unfortunately for them, the #1 pick in the NFL draft isn't clear cut (reminds me of when the Raptors got the first overall pick and chose Bargnani) and they need so much help, but also probably don't want to spend the money. Bad situation all around.

SuperContest - Week 2

Well week one wasn't kind to me. I went 2-5 and have to thank Chan Gailey for that extra win as he took a safety in the last minute of play to give the Dolphins a five point win.

So here we go...

Packers -14 (vs. the Bills) - Gonna go against the Bills every week I think
Steelers -5.5 (vs. the Titans)- Titans used up too much offence last week.
Panthers -3.5 (vs. the Bucs) - Matt Moore bounces back.
Patriots -3 (vs. the Jets) - Rex Ryan is regretting Hard Knocks about now...
Texans -3 (vs. the Redskins) - Thinking that Foster can tear it up again.

Hopefully, this week goes better than last, it can't go much worse.

NFL Week 1 - SuperContest

If you are an avid reader and follower of ESPN sports writer Bill Simmons you would have heard him this week talk about the "SuperContest". This is a gambling contest that him and fellow ESPN writer Chad Millman will take part in this year. The contest costs $1500 to enter and you pick try to pick the winners of 5 NFL games against the spread each week.

Now you might be thinking this sounds pretty easy, but apparently those that enter are all the "sharps" (professional betters with connections) who make a living at this. Simmons and Millman have basically conceded in week 1 that they aren't winning the contest and just want to be respectable. I am going to aim to do the same thing. Although, I am making this easier on myself by not plopping down the $1500, I'll pick 5 games each week vs. the spread using the Bodog lines on Saturday morning. I'll keep the tally going and see how I fair against Simmons and Millman and the rest of the "sharps".

For week 1, here we go. Current record 0-0 (tied for first!)

Miami Dolphins -3 (vs. the Bills)
Indianapolis Colts -2.5 (vs. the Texans)
Green Bay Packers -3 (vs. the Eagles)
Carolina Panthers +7 (vs. the Giants)
Cleveland Browns +3 (vs. the Bucs)

Wish me luck and if I prove that I am good at this, someone can stake me the $1500 for next season.

Who are your locks of the week?