Nurse the Hate: NFL Week 2

I was saddened to see Grant Hart from Husker Du had died this week.  I remember when Husker Du was a band much hipper people than me listened to until I finally “got it”, with Grant’s song “Books About UFOs” being one of the entry points into one of the 80s great bands.  I have no idea what took me so long.  Though the accepted logic is to praise their album “Zen Arcade”, I will stand firm and say “New Day Rising” and “Flip Your Wig” are superior records.  They are one of the few bands that pull off being aggressive and melancholy at the same time.  

I remember seeing Husker Du on tour for what I thought was their “Candy Apple Grey” record.  They came out on stage and then promptly played 20+ songs no one in the audience had ever heard before that turned out to be their “Warehouse” double album.  I was pretty annoyed at the time, but now I appreciate the commitment (or selfishness) to their artistry to only play their latest material they were most excited about.  That band was so loud that I could see the hair on my arms moving with the sound.  My ears rang for three days afterwards.  As a young adult I thought that was pretty cool.  Now I am a bit grumpy about the constant high pitch ring in my head I enjoy daily.  That show was clearly a warning shot I did not heed.

    

I used to have Cleveland Browns season tickets.  I let those lapse just before the team left town as I realized that adding eight Sundays of irresponsible drinking was not adding anything positive to my life.  I was more interested in going to rock shows anyway.  The appeal of tailgating with a bunch of assholes at the Muni Lot who were all blasting Springsteen’s “Born In The USA” conflicted with the fucked up music we liked to blare.  I remember listening to Grant’s post Husker Du band Nova Mob one time when some guy in a Kosar jersey drinking a tall boy can of Miller Lite asked me “What is this shit?”.  I stopped going to the games when I knew those were not “my people”.  Now I sit home and listen to records and gamble on the games.  It’s much more civilized.  This week I will listen to some Husker Du while I watch my inevitable comeback from the disaster of last week.

 

Now just because Grant was from Minneapolis does not mean we are about to get drunk on sentiment and start tossing money on the Vikings.  No, we are going to toss money on the Vikings because they play well as a road underdog.  They are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 as a road dog.  The Vikings are getting 6 points, which is too many.  The Steelers don’t look like they have jelled yet.  This fear of getting players hurt in the preseason means that teams that rely on intricate pass routes (I.e. Pittsburgh) are not yet firing on all cylinders.  They just haven't practiced enough.  The Steelers had a ton of “rusty” penalties last week.  That keeps games close.  I mean, the Browns hung in with these guys and they are The Browns.  Even though it is a road game after a short week for the Vikings, I like the points.  That Viking defense is for real.  Minnesota +6

Last week the Buffalo Bills rolled up 408 yards of offense on the Jets.  The Bills have one good offensive player left, and that is a running back that is approaching his mid 50s.  My thought is if the Jets had difficulty stopping what experts call a “crappy” offensive team, I am betting that the Jets will have “great difficulty” stopping a full throttle offense like Oakland.  The point spread is an attention getting 13.5 points.  This is exactly the type of line Vegas throws out to allow tourists to say stupid things like “Wow!  13.5 is a lot of points!  That’s way too many! Give me $100 on the Jets!  J-E-T-S, Jets!  Jets! Jets!”.  Flash forward to the end of that Vegas trip where this person is either crying in the Flamingo men’s room or blowing sailors on a parking deck.  Either way, that’s no way to spend a vacation.  Oakland -13.5

Season record:  0-2