Nurse the Hate: Wild Card Weekend 2018

I have spent the last couple weeks settling back into the old Cowslingers catalogue with the band in Leo’s basement.  It is amazing to me that I can remember all the lyrics to these songs I haven’t played for 13 years while I can’t remember where I put my car keys.  Yet, when the band kicks in I can blabber back all these words like an auctioneer.  The real key is to not think about it.  In fact, when my mind wanders into “thinking” instead of “doing” is when the wheels come off.  I am assuming I am like every other stiff up on stage trying to do their best.  You start to think about other things when you sing.  The mind wanders.  I can be doing a lyric and think about what I had in my head when I wrote it.  Maybe I don’t even think about the lyric but start thinking about the black couch I wrote it on.  Then maybe I think about how I had to lift it up over the balcony because it wouldn’t fit in the staircase.  Then I might remember how Joe from the station helped me out that day.  He moved, didn’t he?  Nashville maybe?  Hey, I’m still singing!  I even know where I am in the song.  Wait…  What verse is this?  That’s how it goes wrong.  Why do you think Guns N Roses has those teleprompters on stage?  Axl Rose has sung “Welcome to the Jungle” at every single show they’ve done since the band wrote it.  Yet he undoubtedly is thinking about if he paid his landscaper or filed some lawsuit when suddenly it pops into his head “Is this where I say YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE?  YOU’RE IN THE JUNGLE BABY!”.  Damn.  I wish we could afford teleprompters. 

I haven’t been able to focus on football as much as I would have preferred.  I got my ass kicked in a disastrous Week 17 of wagering.  I knew I was playing with fire on those games but what else can you do?  There’s too much free time across the holiday season yet little time to relax.  The only time I really felt serene during the holidays was a brief window of vivid dreaming as I was fast asleep.  Other than that, it was running around consistently under self-imposed deadlines and projects.  I need to accomplish two goals this weekend.  1.  Play that Cowslingers gig and not look like an asshole while doing it.  2.  Come up with a few NFL winners cocooned by a fire and sparkling wine after attending the Browns Perfect Season Parade.  These are attainable goals.  It’s laying out quite nicely in fact.

Let’s get right to it.  The Buffalo Bills are in the Playoffs.  This is despite the fact that they clearly aren’t any good.  They only got there by a miracle touchdown by the Bengals, which in itself is almost impossible to fathom.  There is a certain point where good fortune just runs out.  I remember a time when I was on a roll in Vegas hanging out at the Bellagio Pool with a great looking girl and thought “this is how my life is now”.  Then I lost all my money playing blackjack and the girl excommunicated me back to my room at the bargain bin Stratosphere hotel.  Shit turns fast.  That’s how it will roll for the Bills this weekend.  Jacksonville -9.

I believe in the New Orleans Saints.  They are in that perfect spot of having a rock solid defense, talented veteran QB, and win by controlling the ground game.  The Public has been slow to buy in with the Saints.  They get lost in the shuffle of all the “new” good teams of the Rams, Vikings, and Eagles.  I think the Saints have a shot to win it all.  Let us contrast that with the Tennessee Titans.  I do not believe in them.  They have lost three of their last four games, are 3-5 on the road, and could be argued don’t have a quality win since September.  Kansas City has won four in a row (all covers), and is 6-2 at home.  I am going to parlay both of the home teams on the money line.  Home favorites are 35-2-1 over the last 38 games in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs ATS.  New Orleans/Kansas City parlay.   

Season Record:  23-21-1