Another Miss

Sorry about the light blogging schedule. This has been a hard week for the Wall Street trading professional- leaving little time this week to follow the news of the week. Perhaps Frank Helps You Think It All Out has let you down recently. The picks of the week have started out iffy!

But what a week it has been: Phillies! Eagles! The Green Wave! All three are up from recent nadirs.

We’ll start with Tulane. I admit it up front; I did not see the game. Frankly, I couldn’t work up any interest to squint at the internet or whatever the viewing option was this weekend. I went to the beach.

So I have not comment on the game per se- other than some state of the program observations. Look, all wins are good. And this win is sweetened by, let’s face it, Tulane had to have it. It would be outright bad to lose to an in-state rival we semi-recruit against. Tulane simply must win the few games it plays a demonstrative favorite. Lose that game, and the road to a disasterous, 2-10ish campaign was real bright.

Other than that, I dunno. If you have Tulane at any win total between three and seven, you have them getting the UL-Monroe game and sitting at one up, two down at this point.

I had a pre-season “fair” over/under of 3.5- and took the under. Really, I thought the Wave had three gotta haves and should gets: Louisiana-Monroe, Army, and SMU- but admittedly, I figured they’d blow one of that three, but steal another elsewhere.

Well, the Warhawks are in the win column and you can add in this new fact. To wit, I officially missed on SMU; they’re horrid. Jeez’em crow. That program is a real blow to those who think throwing a zillion dollars at new stadiums and coaches is the way to fix a moribund football problem. Anyway, it is very hard to imagine Tulane losing this Thursday to that mess- particularly with the Green Wave defense playing at the top of their range. The 17.5 is a stiff price to pay for that opinion- particularly on a short week- but right now I’m inclined to lay those points.

No Excuses

I don’t really have a strong opinion about this weekend’s game with the Louisiana-Monroe. And with the markets screaming around me, I doubt that will change any time soon.

Sure, I have Tulane in the three-win bucket. And really, to get to three wins, this is one the Wave probably needs to get. So when the line opened with Tulane favored around a field goal, I was pretty ready to take the Wave.

I do think they’ll win. But the line has now expanded to six- and that is a lot more chancy. The Warhawks have shown, when motivated and in a big spot, they can play a better team close. Tulane is not as good as Arkansas (who the Warhawks lost to by a point)- but Tulane figures to be more engaged mentally than the Razorbacks in this spot.

It feels very rivalry like. The Wave is playing well- near what I figure is the top of their range- but the 0-2 mark Tulane sports probably keeps them from any regression on the effort front. And Louisiana-Monroe has to have this game at the top of their calendar.

Two teams in the same class, playing on a neutral field. Both partisans ought to be in attendance. I guess I would not be surprised if either team won- and although I suspect the Wave will win- six points feels like a stiff price to pay for that opinion.