The Executive Game: Money Shows Your True Colors*

*And not in a Cyndi Lauper sort of way
SPECIAL THURSDAY EDITION

The Executive Game is something we're going to play here every Friday, as per the wishes of one Mackenzie and the chagrin of Kevin Bonny (Honestly, I never thought I'd type that name again in my life, let alone put it in a blog. I'm not even sure I spelled his name right, but man if he googles his name....well, you'd never have to worry about meeting up with him at any HS reunions because HE NEVER GRADUATED!). Here are the rules:

• We'll only pick things that we're confident will happen over the weekend (college football mostly, but a slam dunk LOCK next week in the Emmys, the day Dick Cavett or Emmanuel Lewis will die).


• We'll shy away from the NFL unless there's something really luscious, like last year when Peyton Manning was getting points to win at Denver. RARELY will there be an NFL pick, so if you see one here, I'd jump all freaking over that shit. The NFL is too unpredictable and frankly Vegas does plenty of homework on these teams that making any money off the league is impossible.


• To clarify a rumor, I didn't pick Michigan to LOSE last week, I just picked them to not cover, making me some sort of genius for one day anyway.


• We don't need to offer justification for every pick. We might from time to time, but that's just how the EG rolls.
• The Executive Game will have a new picture every week for your viewing pleasure, so even if you don't play, you'll want to go out of your way to see our photos.
  
• That Makers Mark sitting on your bottom shelf isn't just going to drink itself now, is it?

Our theme this week (which was previously how you can't trust fat coach vs. old coach): How financially security will affect some folks, in particular one Billy Callahan and a subdued Larry Johnson. One is in the NFL, and the other thinks he still is. So you'd think that since both of these fellas just inked some nice guaranteed money and I'm not sure how it's gonna affect either of them, I'd stay away from their games.

The problem with the Huskers last year on the road: They always, even in that bowl game, opened up big time and aggressive and scored, and then played all conservative for the remainder of the game so they could never blow anyone out away from Lincoln. So that could happen again with Billy C, I just don't know how he's gonna be since he's the cock of the walk with that extension. Plus he might play too close to the vest with USC on deck for next weekend.

EXECUTIVE GAME PICKS, WEEKEND SEPT 8

1. LSU (-13) over Virginia Tech. From a former LSU player I had lunch with two weeks ago: "I wish I was still playing there, because that's the best team I've ever seen." And that was the most insightful thing he had to offer. The "take it easy on Va Tech" card went away after their emotional home opener.
2. Hawaii (-28) over Louisiana Tech. I may just run the table and take Hawaii every week. Deal with it.
3. Auburn (-7) over S. Florida. Auburn's pissed off about not blowing away K-State last week. Lots of style points come from the boys this time around.
4. NFL: Kansas City (+3) over Houston. Why an NFL game here? This is maybe the most unsexy game on the schedule, but it's so tempting with those 3 points going the Chefs way(never mind the fact the Chefs have a rookie kicker who's already lost his confidence and barely makes half his kicks -- see, I told you Vegas knows right where to put those odds). I love the fact that they've got a stud running back who got to miss all of training camp and almost all of the pre-season (LJ) who, despite getting that guaranteed money he whined about, will still find some way to run with a chip on his shoulder (the fact that Priest Holmes is still around should be plenty incentive, even if he won't play for six weeks). And Houston is still Houston. Why is everyone in love with a quarterback named Matt Schaub?
5. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (pick 'em) over the Sunday Night NBC Football game. We've been without Larry David in our lives for almost 2 years. I finally got into "Flight of the Concords". It's funny, it has it's moments, but it's just visiting this planet. A new season of Curb is a great way to end the Executive Game.