2-12

The only two people to win their Night game picks were Gator and Montez.  These sealed the only two perfect 3-0 weeks for Week Eight.  Montez/Yahoo used his 10 unit run to move into tenth.  Things really tightened up in the middle of the pack.  There is only an eight unit difference between 5th and 12th.  The question becomes will people make a run for that third place money or be content to play for closest to zero.

Crash and Burn

The Good News:  Gladiator once again reached the 50 point mark.  Yahoo and Gator not only won, but took control of the largest College Spread Cover with Wisconsin's monster cover.  The Hitman got back to even and Meehoe joined the 20 unit club.

The Bad News:  Aside from Dirty D, the rest of us failed, miserably in most cases.  Neither the Captain or Packy were able to keep pace with the leader.  T-$ went down in flames losing his final Vapor lock of the season (honestly I'm just glad Gladiator was not in Vegas yet or the damage would have been substantially worse).

Today's big play is the Indianapolis Colts.  Four league members have wagered a total of 19 units on today's titanic struggle with easily the most hateable team in all of professional sports.

Playing It Safe

Week Eight sees the MLLC playing it safe.  The lone Vapor Lock of the week is T-$'s Stone Cold Vapor Lock of the Decade - Utah State -17.  Put your mortgage on it.  Remember it's not gambling when you know.  Aside from that, there are only four 6 unit plays going on the rest of the week.  The only chance for a new leader would be for Gladiator to go 0-3 and the Captain to go 3-0.  I've got nothing else for you this morning.  Call your bookie and improve your life.

The Big Three

Let me start off by giving props to the five folks that were perfect last week.  Cento managed to reverse a -5 unit total and turn it into +5.  Uncle PJ managed to catch me.  Meehoe was perfect but still lost two points for failing to get his picks in on time.  That brings us to Packy and the Captain.  Not only did they go 3 for 3, but they also managed to pull in the maximum Vapor enhanced 15 units.  This cut the Gladiator's lead from 28 to 19.  While 19 is still a huge lead, there are a lot of Vapors out there and just under half of our season to go.

That's all for now.  Remember what they say:  Study long, study wrong.

Scream, Yell, Go Horse!

Whether it was Vontae Davis breaking ribs, Trent Richardson breaking tackles,or Andy Luck breaking hearts with that manly neck beard, the Colts could not be stopped Sunday...and neither could the Major League Lock Club.  For the third consecutive week, we went 10-4 against the number on NFL Sunday Day Games.  Add another 27 units to the total.

We started off the NFL Night Games by going 4-2.  Notable outcomes included Gladiator experiencing a rare defeat, and Packy and Cento running off five victories in a row.  Hitman is in position to do the same tonight with a Houston cover.

Is Gladiator coming back to the pack?  Is the creme rising to the top?  Are we all just on the hottest run against the number of all time?

Moving on Up!

I'll let you decide who is who from the MLLC in the above picture of the 1970-80's sitcom The Jeffersons.

Major League Lock Club members were definitely moving on up on Saturday - well everyone but T-$, Dirty D, and CDes/Bink.  The club went an astounding 11-3 against the number yesterday.  This is even more shocking than our past performances with NFL games in that we have pretty much sucked at handicapping college games so far this year.  Yesterday saw a reversal of that trend as we witnessed three 11 unit vapors hit as well as two other six point plays.  All in all, we finished +55 units on the day, bringing our college season total back to -1.  It also means that we are 33-9 over the last three categories.  That's just stupid.

So what did it all mean?  Well, for T-$ it meant going from being tied for third place money to now being 13 points out.  It meant that Captain pulled within 20 points of Gladiator and that Packy is sitting pretty.  Uncle PJ continued his steady upward climb as did Cento, Hitman, Yahoo, and Spencer.  In fact, after a horrible start, Spencer is threatening to break out of the negatives later today.
The Horse are the popular pick today with six members believing Blue will COVER THAT SPREAD.  The other eight picks are divided evenly between Baltimore, Cleveland, Arizona, and Chicago.  There are no locks in play, but Dirty D has 6 on Indy.  Gladiator and Cento also went with 5 on the hometown team.

Two quick housekeeping notes.  First, the issue with submitting picks is not unique to our site.  Our host company is experiencing some problems.  They have been contacted and are working on it.  Hard to bitch when they put the whole thing on for free.  Second, there is some confusion about how the Vapors are listed on the Pick Sheet.  The numbers you see are the number of Vapors a member has left in each catagory (College-Day-Night).  So if you have 1-1-1, that means you have all three Vapors left.  If you see 0-0-0, you have none left.  If you have 0-1-0 , you only have your NFL Day game Vapor left.  If you have any questions or believe that I have made a mistake, please let me know!

Good luck

Moving Day

Lots of big action being played today. We have not one, not two, but three Vapor Locks being played on Saturday all of which are of the 11 point variety.  On top of that we have two 6 unit plays.  Let's start at the top.  Captain has pulled the trigger on his first Vapor of the year taking the Duke Blue Devils to cover -2.5 at home.  The Gladiator wisely choose to play defense and took the Dukies as well.  If the Blue Devils pull it out, Captain will gain 8 units.  However, if they play like Dookie, JB will actually extend his lead while losing.  Packy used his College Vapor on Gerogia at -3.5 in a true Daily Double.  He could be sitting pretty at 22 units if the Bulldogs come through.  Spencer went with the Eastside Catholics at +4.5.  The Flutie Crew could bring him all of the way back to -1 after he was flirting with -30 just a few weeks ago.

The game with the most action was tonight's 8pm tilt between the Fighting Irish and the Raping Seminoles.  Meehoe, Well Tea, Cento,and Yahoo all see the Irish pulling off the miracle or at least covering that sizable spread.  Dirty D knows that Winston and the boys don't take NO for an answer.  The other widely played game was this afternoon's MSU vs IU matchup.  Shockingly, no one took the Hoosiers to keep it within a rather inflated +15.5.

Lots of units up for grabs today.  It should interesting to see how it plays out.

Meet Your Major League Lock Club - Well Tea

I present to you the Best Man in my wedding and the man that led to my being benched at Hanover, Jason Welty...

Meet Your Lock Club Questionnaire Form

Your Full Name:

Jason L. Welty

Your Desired Lock Club Nickname:

Well Tea

Birthplace:   

Naptown                                          

Currently Residing in:

Tallynasty

High School/College/PostGrad:

Avon – Hanover – IU via IUPUI

Sports Played and Level:

Football / Track – college, Basketball / Wrestling / Track – HS

Current Profession:

Chief District Legislative Assistant and Server

Greatest Sports Accomplishment:

3x All-American (1^st team, 2^nd team and HM)

Greatest Gambling Accomplishment:

Suckering the Beltera Casino into giving me a free room every other weekend while walking away up over a couple of grand during 2002 and 2003.  They still send me free stuff trying to recoup their money.

One interesting fact no one else in the MLLC knows about you:

I am acquainted with Corey Simon and he is still bitter about his time with the Colts.  He has a particular disdain for Jim Irsay.  I also once help Peter Boulware run for political office.

As of this moment in history, what is your favorite song: 

Nirvana - Something In The Way

You have the floor.  Pontificate on any topic that you would like.  Imagine that you have been given a segment on SportsCenter or 60 Minutes:

           

I’d like to speak about several topics. First, I was recently reminded of my father. For those of you who haven’t met me, my father passed away in February 2013 from cancer, which originated in his colon and prostate. So, gentlemen, if you’re that age, please don’t skip a screening. He hadn’t missed a screening for years, and the first one he missed ended up being the most important one. 

I play DOTA 2.

I once traded Alex Rodriguez for Christian Guzman, Dustin Hermanson and eventually Mike Hampton. Fantasy God.  To this day I still remember the description that Rotowire used for Dustin Hermanson “He’s 10lbs of nasty, stuffed into a 5lb bag.”

I have a desire to be a house flipper, but I have neither the capital nor the testicular fortitude to make it happen.

THE RAMS BLOW

Tonight was the rare Lock Club moment where it made sense to cheer against your pick in the hopes that someone else would suffer.  While a vast majority of our league had taken the 49ers to cover, Gladiator was the only one to drop a full Vapor fueled 11 units down on Coach Harbaugh's squad.  A victory here would mean that his lead would expand to 28 units.  A loss would shrink it to less than 10. Things were looking good for Meehoe (and the rest of the league in general) when the Rams jumped out to a commanding 17-3 lead early.  Then they woke up and realized that, while they may be the Rams, the suck monkey balls.  Even though they proved to be COMPLETELY inept offensively for most of the second half, they still had a chance to COVER THAT SPREAD in the closing minutes.  Down 10, whoever was playing quarterback for the Rams overthrew a wide open tight end at the 5 which would have almost assuredly meant a cover.  Then down 7 with with less than a minute to play, SF sealed the deal with a pick six.

So what does all of this mean.  JB is killing you, me, everybody.  There is a traffic jam for the next two money spots with Captain maintaining his 2nd place position and Meehoe and T-$ tied for third.  Packy is a mere 1 point out of the money. Well Tea and Dirty D are in the conversation as well.  The name change was huge for the artist formerly known as Montez.  Yahoo went a perfect 3-0 (as did T-$) and managed to move out of last place.  Blowing a lock meant that Gator now finds himself residing in the basement.

Overall, it was another amazing week.  After starting 5-9 on Saturday, we rallied to finish 27-15 on the week as well as 48 units ahead.  This brought us to 41-15 on NFL games over the past two weeks.  On the year, we are 129-120-3.  Not too shabby.

What a Day!

After going a dismal 5-9 on college action on Saturday,the MLLC took up right where it left off with regard to the pro game.  Club members notched an outstanding 10-4 record against the number during the games.  Including going 3-1 on Sunday Night Football, the league now sits at 32-14 over the last two weeks.  That is pretty amazing.  If San Francisco covers the spread tomorrow night, that number will jump to 41-15.  Those are crazy numbers.

Back to the Saturday action...the league started off a perfect 6-0 with the 1 o'clock start times.  Uncle PJ kept his hot streak going with a 6 unit win with Peyton and the Broncos.  Everyone else stayed modest with 2 or 3 unit victories.  The 4 o'clock games are where things really got interesting.  San Diego was the computer favorite to cover in a big way this week.  Captain and CDes/Bink were believing the hype.  Unfortunately for them, Raider Nation kept it respectable and the Lighting Bolts failed to "COVER THAT SPREAD!"

The biggest game of the week (unit allocation-wise) was the Arizona/Washington game.  This game featured four members selecting Arizona and one taking the 'Skins.  In fact, this game had not one, but TWO Vapor Locks placed on it (both on the Angry Birds).  The Cardinals took a commanding 10 point lead early in the fourth quarter and looked good to cover the 3 and a hook Vegas had assigned this contest.  Then, with two minutes left, they allowed Kirk Cousins and Frenchie to find the endzone and cut the lead to three.  After recovering an onside kick, it looked as though a field goal attempt may materialize so long as the Cardinals did not get a first down (they would just run the clock out otherwise).  Unfortunately, they lost enough yardage on 3rd down that they were forced to punt.  It appeared as though all was lost.  That is until MY MAN, RASHAD JOHNSON picked off a Cousins pass at the 28. My man could have just gone down and secured the victory, but I like to think he knew how that bastard screwed me over last week in the MSU/Nebraska game by being all "team first".  F that noise.  MY MAN RASHAD JOHNSON took that B-I to the house, securing Vapor Lock Victories for both T-$ and Yahoo!  Glorious!

Tomorrow night may be the biggest game of the season.  If San Francisco wins, it may be all over but the shouting.  Gladiator would sky-rocket to a seemingly uncatchable 42 points.  However, if they should fail, things will be getting mighty interesting.  Stay tuned!

Fire is Out

Saturday was not kind to the MLLC.  After coming off of a torrid Week Five, things got off to a rough start. The noon crew was all tears and heartbreaks as pick after pick failed to cover, many losing outright. Basically,if your nickname isn't Gladiator, Meehoe, Uncle PJ, T-$, or Yahoo, you were SOL (as of the printing of this article, Texas A&M has not finished yet).  The biggest let down of the day had to be Kevin's selection of Wisconsin for his Vapor Lock.  Normally the Whiskey goes down smoothly, but today Wisky's win was rougher than a particular fireman on B-Shift's mother.  To make matters worse, all of the winners aside from Meehoe only placed 2 units on their selections. The one positive thing that came out of today is that T-$ extended his Largest College Spread Cover to 28.5 with UAB's beat down of North Texas.

Big games on the slate for tomorrow. Both Yahoo and T-$ have Vapor Locked the Arizona Cardinals to COVER THAT SPREAD.  In fact, a total of 29 units were laid on the Cards by MLLC members.  Other teams drawing interest from multiple parties were the Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers.

Week Five - MLLC Comes Alive

A documented 19-9 against the number is pretty amazing.  Congrats once again to everyone who contributed.  The 9-5 on the SNF/MNF game is nice, but going 10-4 for the Day games is something else.

It proved to be a big week for several members.  Captain and the tag team of CDes and Bink both were perfect for the week.  Cap used the opportunity to close the gap a little bit on Gladiator.  CDes/Bink moved from ninth to fifth.  Packy and Dirty D both hit Vapors.  Packy went from sixth into the last money spot.  Dirty D's big hit reversed the downward spiral he had been in for thepast two weeks.

It wasn't all sh*ts and giggles, though.  Uncle PJ dropped an 11 point Vapor but bounced back with two wins to limit the damage as much as possible.  As discussed earlier, T-$ is now the proud owner of the longest losing streak in league history (5 and counting).

Look for your invoice in your email soon.

Super Chargers

(Do yourself a favor and press play just before reading this update)

It was a huge Sunday for Major League Lock Club members!  The Day games saw our crew go an impressive 10-4 against the number.  Five of those folks took the SAN DIEGO SUPER CHARGERS who dismantled the New York S-U-C-K SUCK SUCK SUCKS.  That victory allowed Packy to grab control of the Largest Spread Cover by an NFL Vapor Lock.  Both our leader and second place man took the Chargers as well.  Meehoe had a nice pick in Cleveland which allowed him to gain 6 points (originally it was listed as 8 but that was a clerical error).  

Sunday Night Football was not kind to most of those who chose to play it.  First, last, Packy and T-Dummy all fell for the Cincinnati hype.  There was no way Tommy Terrific was going to let Andy Dalton come into his house and show him up, not after all of the heat he had been receiving over the past week.  Only Cento and Dirty D were smart enough to see this one coming.  In fact, Dirty D bounced back to win his final Vapor.  With that, he finds himself currently sitting in the shade of the money tree (aka 5th place).

I would be remiss if I failed to inform you that a new record was set tonight.  After one of the most gut-wrenching failures to cover I have ever personally witnessed late Saturday night, I went 0-2 again today.  That means that I now currently own the record for consecutive losses at 5 (and counting).  The awesomeness of my futility doesn't stop there, though.  Oh, no.  I also moved to 2-8 in NFL games this year - also a league worst.  So there you go.

The current standings can be found on the league homepage or on the active Pick Sheets link.  See you tomorrow night.

Bulls Do the Impossible

Gladiator's consecutive win streak finally came to an end today when the Buffalo Bills managed to keep it within 4.5 during their loss to Bowling Green.  Let's all pause and give some respect to what was a truly awesome run.  Just keep in mind that a 6 team parlay typically pays 40-1....okay, enough of that BS!  What else happened today?

Things started off with an 11 unit Vapor Lock kicking off at noon.  Uncle PJ had worked his way back up to +1 unit by going 4-1 over his last five.  A cover and he would have been guaranteed to sit in second place heading into Sunday.  Instead, ECU struggled to cover half of their -41 point spread and my man falls into a tie for 10th.

The bottom four members all continued their losing ways.  Montez extended his losing streak to 4, matching our league record to this point.  Hopefully he can avoid making history tomorrow.  The middle of the pack all did well but failed to capitalize with large unit outlays.  Well Tea suffered the double whammy of getting hit with the "late fee" and losing his college selection.  The night ended with an absolute gut-busting collapse by Michigan State for T-$.  Up 19 with four minutes to play, Sparty gave up a TD drive and a punt return for TD to get it under 7.

Games to watch (aside from your own) include the San Diego and Cleveland games.  As discussed earlier, Packy is trying to take home the largest NFL Vapor Spread Cover with SD.  Meehoe laid a fat 8 on the Brownies, taking the 2 points.  Best of luck to you all!

Week Five is LIVE!

As we enter into Week Five, there are a few items of note that are worth discussing.  First, this week the number of members that failed to submit their picks on time ballooned to 3.  Each owner (Well Tea, Cento, and Gator) was hit with the -2 penalty and only allowed to play 8 points this week.  In fact, as of the time of this post, Gator has yet to send in his selections.  At noon, he will be hit with a No Pick -6 for his college game.  He will then have until 2 pm to submit his two NFL picks.  We hope that he is doing okay as he has not responded to email or text.  His phone is going straight to voicemail.

Now, on to the matter at hand.  We have one Vapor in play in each category.  Uncle PJ has decided to roll with ECU today, throwing down the full 11 units with belief that the Pirates will cover the full 41 points against Eric Dickerson's alma mater.  Several other 4 unit plays are out there this week as well, including two marquee games (Texas A & M at Mississippi State and Nebraska at Michigan State).  Sunday's consensus pick is that the San Diego Super Chargers will cover their -6.5 spread against the incompetent Jets.  Five members dropped an aggregate of 26 units on this game including Packy's NFL Day Game Vapor Lock.  Packy's cousin, Meehoe, also placed a sizable number of units on Cleveland.  The MLLC's play for the NFL Night Games is for Seattle to cover the 7 points they are laying at Washington.  Dirty D stands in opposition to this consensus, taking New England +1 for his final Vapor Lock play of the year.

This should shape up to be an interesting week.  Great match-ups abound all day on both Saturday and Sunday.  Most importantly, there is still time to get Gladiator's picks to your bookie and make some real loot this weekend - were you somewhere where gambling was legal.