they were fun times and i must say some of the more enjoyable times of my misspent youth. though i wouldn’t call my time with the bootleg station misspent by any means.

for whatever reason a few of us involved with the radio station decided to make a movie over christmas vacation. we came up with a script and a sorta plot. if i recall it was a single piece of paper with the idea for the movie along with an outline of the plot on it. the movie was to be titled, ‘the bum’. we filmed the movie in black and white on regular 8mm film. it was great fun and filled up a few days over vacation. the hardest part was editing the film and it also took the longest to complete. all of the people in the film were involved with the radio station in one way or another. there were six of us in the film. though there were more folks working at the radio station.

when the film was completed i took it to a film class i was taking at a local junior college. the instructor liked the film but said it lacked exposition. the film ran approximately a bit over 5 minutes. not much time for any exposition mostly due to the fact the movie was silent. though when i showed it the film class i used bob dylan’s, ‘the gates of eden’, as the soundtrack.

at any rate, the film had a number of semi showings because a friend and i who were in the film were also 2 of 4 partners in a light show company. we used the film as part of the show along with a bunch of other stuff. we made some very good money for the time and got to work with the sir douglas quintet, lee michaels, led zeppelin, and any number of local bands. the partnership folded after a very successful run due to internal bickering and youthful insanity.

when the light show company fell apart the movie disappeared. it did show up once at a dance or ‘happening’ in the very early 70′s only to disappear again. this time for good. i ‘ve always thought the story was a good one. a simple morality tale on one level and a decent crime story on an other.

when i started to write, ‘wire to wire’, it occurred to me to turn it into a remake of ‘the bum’ and give it the exposition the movie lacked. i hope i’ve done that. ‘wire to wire’ covers what happened in the movie. baldo meets jenny. she takes him to a dice game. baldo steals the money, runs, and loses it. the bum finds the money and it changes his life around. the bum meets jenny and she takes him to a dice game. the bum learns the game is crooked. the bum gets stabbed to death. i played the part of the bum in the movie. bruce day was also my radio name when i was in that business long ago. all the other names used in ‘wire to wire’ bear no intentional resemblance to anyone living or dead. thanks for reading ‘wire to wire’ and if you know what happened to the movie, ‘the bum’, i’d love to hear from you. yeah, i know, like that’s going to happen.

jmh

bruce day went back up to his room and showered again. shaved as well. no sense leaving any thing to chance he thought. then he set about getting dressed in his finest new clothes. a fairly nice cheap suit, a pale blue dress shirt, a red and dark blue stripped tie, socks, and new black dress shoes. when he was finished dressing he figured he looked ok. he could probably get away with the same outfit when he started to look for radio work again. day for got or neglected to buy a wristwatch. he had no idea how long he’d taken getting ready. bruce turned on the tv and tuned it to cnn. he still had twenty minutes or so. the bum sat and watched the news while hardly paying any attention to it. his thoughts were on his date with his new friend, jenny rider.

a few minutes before jenny was due to pick him up he made his way outside and stood in the late afternoon shade while he waited. the san gabriel mountains were clear and turning a nice pale purple in the setting sun. not long after his arrival jenny’s car pulled to the curb. bruce day was thinking this was very nice as he heard the passenger side door unlock.

jenny rider looked even more stunning than he remembered. her perfume was intoxicating. he realized he hadn’t been with a woman who smelled so nice in a long long time. let alone a woman who looked as good as she did. day hoped he wouldn’t make an ass of himself. jenny flashed him a big smile and said.

‘hi, bruce, you look nice. i hope you’re hungry.’

‘thanks, jenny you look great. that perfume is amazing. hungry? you bet. i haven’t had prime rib in ages.’

‘good, we’re going to the sycamore inn up in cucamonga. have you heard of it?’

‘sure who hasn’t? it’s been a number of years since i’ve been there though. i’m really looking forward to it.’

jenny smiled again as bruce got in the car then pulled away from the curb. the stereo system was quietly playing an old gram parsons cd. ‘a song for you’ and jenny’s perfume filled his senses. they made small talk and bruce was happy he was able to keep up the conversation without letting on he’d spent the last several years out on the street drunk 24-7.

‘you know it’s interesting that a young lady like yourself would be listening to an old gram parsons cd.’

‘probably. i was exposed to him at a very early age by my mother. she was a huge gram and emmylou fan. i imagine it’s the first music i ever heard. either in the womb or out of it.’

‘very cool. i’m a big fan myself. too bad things ended up the way they did for him.’

as bruce was speaking they were entering the sycamore inn parking lot. he thought the place looked the same. the only difference, of course, being the sycamore trees that were nestled about were even larger than he remembered.

‘when i was a kid there was a sycamore tree growing up through the floor in the east end of the dinning room. is it still there?’

‘really? i didn’t know that. and no. i’ve been coming here for a long time and i’ve never seen it. the east end is now sorta like a party room.’

‘oh. ok.’

bruce day quickly got out of the car and went over to the drivers side in order to help jenny from the lexus.

‘my, such a gentleman’. jenny smiled.

she took bruce’s hand as they walked up the stairs to the front door. day’s heart skipped a beat or two then settled down. yeah, settle down he thought, this could be a long evening. don’t blow it. their table wasn’t quite ready so jenny suggested they sit at the bar and order a drink. bruce day hadn’t considered this option. he’d been doing ok with not drinking for the past couple of days but no telling what the hell would happen if he started to drink again so soon after stopping. though they would be eating soon. so why not? magic seemed to be in the air.

jenny ordered a margarita. bruce was still thinking when the bartender asked him what he wanted. it took a couple of tries by the barkeep to get bruce’s attention. he finally ordered a vodka martini straight up with olives. may as well dive right in were his thoughts. they sat at the bar sipping their drinks and chatting. several minutes later they were told their table was ready. taking their drinks with them they went into the dinning room and dinner.

their dinner was spectacular. just as good as bruce day remembered from back in the day. probably some of the best prime rib to be found for miles. nothing like it. after their drinks were finished jenny ordered a bottle of red wine. then another. after dessert she suggested an after dinner drink in the bar. bruce said sure why not? sipping their drinks at the bar bruce asked jenny what she did for a living. the subject hadn’t come up before.

‘i’m a consultant. i…help folks with their business. you know like steer customers to people that may help. i more or less freelance my services which keeps me free to do what i want when i want. though there is a local business…i…do a number of things for.’

‘sounds interesting. it must keep you busy.’

‘it keeps me on my toes that’s for sure.’

‘um, i was just wondering…ok…i’ve been wondering why you asked me out? i mean…’

‘ah, sure. you were such a gentleman when you were helping me out today and you’re cute. i just wanted to get to know you. i’m glad i did.’

‘me too.’

several minutes passed before either of them spoke again. jenny broke the silence.

‘do you like to gamble, bruce?’

‘um, yeah, sometimes. i’m not much of a gambler really. why do you ask?’

‘oh, well, i know of a party tonight where they’ll probably be a dice game going down. just a few people. would you care to join me?’

it was probably the last thing he wanted to do. especially after drinking what he already had consumed. things could get crazy if he didn’t watch himself. probably crazy enough to blow whatever chance he had with jenny. plus, blow his new found fortune. he was carrying it. no way he would leave it in his motel room. at any rate, alcohol and gambling. not a pair to draw to for bruce day.

‘ok. sure why not? i seem to be saying that a lot tonight. i’m afraid if it involves you jenny i’d be down for just about anything.’

jenny gave him her radiant smile and put her hand under the bar and on his thigh.

‘how sweet of you. finish your drink and let’s go.’

she left her hand there until bruce got off his bar stool. he waited for her and they walked arm in arm out of the restaurant. when they got to jenny’s car bruce was there to open the door for her. he asked.

‘are you sure you’re ok to drive?’

smiling she pushed bruce up against the car then kissed him. they stood there kissing and groping each for what seemed like to bruce a good ten minutes. he was ready for a room or the backseat when jenny broke it off.

‘oh boy. that was hot. ummm. just something to look forward to later. ok?’

bruce caught his breath and said.

‘ah, yeah. sure why not?’

‘good. let’s go to the party.’

jenny drove carefully to the same house on ‘h’ st. the same spot she always took her prospects to. eddie and danny layne’s home. her main and only clients in her ‘consulting business’. once she had the car parked a few doors away she kissed bruce again and let him feel her up a bit.

‘easy there. nice thing about this is it isn’t far from your room. we’ll hang out. play some craps. then go up to your room. ok?’

‘um, yeah, ok, i mean…er…sure why not?’

there it was again. bruce day was pretty well in his cups as it were. feeling no pain. he’d probably say or do anything to get jenny alone in his room or any room or the backseat or out on the road as the beatles once sang. he didn’t care. he was more than ready for ms jenny rider.

the street was it’s usual dark. no lights coming from the front of the layne’s house. they walked to the front door arm in arm. bruce day still trying to feel jenny up. she was giggling and making no real effort to stop him. they got up the porch steps in one piece and jenny rang the bell. a short wait and the door opened. it was danny layne.

‘hey jenny. good to see you, girl.’

‘hi, danny. this is bruce. ok?’

‘sure, you know that. come on in, bruce. nice to meet you.’

once inside the two men shook hands. danny led them to the back room where the ‘party’ was happening. there he introduced bruce to his brother and a couple of other guys who were shooting dice. an army blanket was on the floor and a decent amount of cash was on the blanket. jenny went off to make some drinks and a tipsy bruce tied to pull a couple of hundred dollars from his pocket without showing everyone in the room his wad of cash. he almost succeeded in pulling it off. almost. only eddie and danny saw the large roll. they gave each other a look that bruce and the other guys totally missed.

jenny brought in the drinks for her and bruce. it was a vodka rocks. he killed his drink with one swallow and handed his glass back to jenny. apparently his sign he was ready for another. jenny flashed the brothers layne a look then left to make the drink. bruce had his cash out and placed a hundred down saying he didn’t think that one of the other guys would make his point. the man didn’t.

things went semi sorta ok for bruce as the evening wore on. he was drinking and becoming more animated. the other two fellows got tired of losing and left. bruce was ready to leave as well but eddie suggested they double their bets for say like the three of them getting one chance each to hold the dice. jenny wan’t playing. bruce hadn’t noticed.

what he did he notice was danny palming a pair of dice. though it didn’t register until he saw him do it again after bruce had lost a grand on one pass.

‘hey. hold on there, pilgrim. i saw that. you palmed some dice. something ain’t right here. let me see those dice.’

‘what are you talking about, man. i’m not palming any dice. look. see?’

danny opened his hand and it was empty. that didn’t stop bruce day.

‘look. i know what i saw. you palmed some dice. i’m thinking the dice are loaded or at least one set is. i may be pretty loaded myself but i know a fixed dice game when i see one.’

‘hey, man. chill out.’ it was eddie. ‘there are no loaded dice and i think you’d better apologize to my brother.’

‘piss off douche. you guys are crooks and i’m outta here. you coming jenny?’

jenny just stood there with an odd look on her face. saying nothing.

‘you coming jenny?’

still nothing. though now she was looking back and forth between the brothers.

‘oh shit. now i get it. this whole thing has been a set up. a den of thieves here. i’m gone and i’m calling the cops. screw this shit.’

bruce day was making his way to the door, his back to the brothers, when he heard the snick of two blades opening. he felt one of the blades enter his right lung. deflating it. the next stab was expertly inserted into his heart as he fell to the floor. the blade then twisted and buried deeper. bruce day was dead several seconds after he hit the floor. hands went into his pockets removing all of his cash. danny and eddie removed their knives then wiped them clean on bruce’s new suit as they rolled him up in the army blanket. the two brothers carried the bum in the blanket to a bathroom and put him in the tub. one of the brothers spoke.

‘we’ll take out the trash a bit later, bro. i need a drink. but first…ms jenny…what the fuck? where’d you find this guy?’

the end

jmh

copyright 2012 by john hauge

he was more or less dumbfounded and unable to move. though the 7-11 up on ‘g’ st was calling to him. the jug wines seemed like sirens on some long ago greek shore beckoning him to come to them. he could see them. the jugs that is. why, he could buy them all if he wanted and just get totally pissed for days. sure why not? the poor man was in no shape for this. fortunately for him he fell asleep and stayed that way for the next 16 hours.

when the bum awoke he was sore and and his muscles ached from sleeping on the cold hard concrete. his bones felt as brittle as hard candy. he wasn’t even sure if he could stand. when he finally got to his feet he knew what he must do. he’d take the cash and get his life turned around for good. maybe even get back into radio. sure why not? everyone had probably forgotten his drunken on air tirade about crappy music and top 40 radio that had started the slippery slide to his hell on earth. drunken days and nights blurring into one. the mad free fall from respectability to the ignominy of a drunken bum on the streets of ontario. roaring madness screaming like banshees in the night.

but first he needed to clean up. or maybe more importantly he needed to make sure none of his drunken homeless buddies knew of his new found cash. if any of them found out he knew he’d probably not live through the day. his next few days needed to be carefully thought out until he was clean and sober enough to pass through town unnoticed by his street brethren. a decent lot but when a large amount of cash was involved or even a small amount it became a dog eat dog existence. every drunken crazy for himself. yeah, he’d try and help them but he needed to help himself first.

he waited in the garage until night fell. careful not to make any noise he left the garage and headed out of the alley. when he reached fern he noticed the house on the corner and it’s open backdoor. there were no lights on inside the home. the bum knew the home belonged to baldo somebody or another. a vaguely nice guy who on occasion had given him cigarettes and money. yeah, a nice guy. the bum wondered what was up. he moved closer to the home and decided he’d just go in. for sure something was up but the open backdoor was calling to him.

his mind made up he went inside the house and closed the door. he left the lights off and wandered through the house calling baldo’s name. of course, there was no answer. baldo was long gone. his bus ride to barstow then hopping hopping a train to points unknown. yeah, baldo was in the wind. only just beginning his long slide into the depths.

satisfied the house was empty the bum locked the backdoor but kept the lights off. he fumbled through the refrigerator and found some food to eat. thankfully, for some reason, he wasn’t thinking about getting drunk. no drinking. he needed to turn himself around. after he finished eating he figured he may as well stay the night. if baldo turned up he could probably talk his way out of jail. after all it was he who found the open backdoor. closed it then locked it. what’s a little food amount to when performing a good deed? bruce day former disk jockey ever the good samaritan.

having had enough to eat the bum retired to the living room and fell asleep on the couch. he slept through the night and when he awoke in the morning he was startled by his surroundings until he remembered what had happened the day before. he was actually feeling pretty good. he’d forage around for more food then perhaps he’d further impose upon baldo’s absent hospitality by cleaning up.

the bum made himself a spectacular breakfast of eggs, sausages, hash browns, biscuits with butter and honey. coffee too. he was amazed he could still remember how to cook. after his meal he fought off the urge to go back to sleep. instead he found the bathroom where he stayed in the shower washing his dirty body and shaving until he ran out of hot water. after his shower he looked through baldo’s clothes. he figured they were pretty close to the same size. he tried on a shirt and it fit. next came under ware and a pair of faded green khakis. some sneakers and an old dodger cap. no sense taking anything newer. he would buy better stuff later.

as he looked at himself in the bedroom mirror the bum thought he could almost see the old bruce day begin to emerge. it put a smile on the bum’s face. at any rate, he didn’t look anything like the bum anymore. he looked pretty like a much normal joe. not wanting to over stay his welcome he figured it was time to leave. plus, none of his old homeless cronies would recognize him now.

the bum locked up and left. as he was walking away from the house an old green gmc jimmy pulled up to the curb. two men were inside. one of them called to him.

‘hey. you must know baldo. do you know where he is?’

‘nope. i haven’t seen him in a few days. i figure he took off with one of his friends. i’ve been busy working. just got home myself.’

both guys were barely paying any attention to him. they were more intent on staring at the house. fine by the bum. he just wanted out of there. the two men slowly pulled away and left the bum alone. he walked to a mexican joint and bought an early dinner. after eating he went to a drug store and bought soap, shampoo, deodorant, a razor and shaving foam. then he went straight to the motel on the corner of ‘h’ and euclid. he rented a room and fell asleep soon after.

in the morning he cleaned up again before going out. he wanted breakfast and he needed some new clothes. breakfast was easy and quick. then it was off to find some new clothes. downtown ontario wasn’t anywhere near what it used to be so finding some especially nice clothing wasn’t that easy. afterwards, he dropped by the local salvation army office and gave them a several hundred dollars. they were more than willing to get the cash and very happy about it as well. it made the bum feel good too. day would give them more after he found a job.

he went back to his room showered again then put on some of the new clothes he’d just purchased. he wanted to go out and walk around in the new stuff. he didn’t know why but it’s what he wanted to do. maybe just to feel normal. while he was out and about trying to be normal once again the bum spotted a very gorgeous young lady walking out of a bakery trying to carry a number of large boxes full of pastries. ever the gentleman the bum rushed up to her and offered to help.

‘why sure. thank you. that’s very kind of you.’

‘not a problem miss.’

after all the boxes were in the car the bum introduced himself.

‘ah, my name is bruce. bruce day.’

‘nice to meet you, bruce. i’m jenny. jenny rider.’

‘nice to meet you too, jenny. um, i guess i’ll be on my way. maybe i’ll see you around.’

‘yes, maybe. have a great day. and thanks again.’

not thinking anymore about it the bum or bruce went back to his room and a nap. when he woke up he went outside to get some fresh air. as he stood outside on the sidewalk a car pulled up to the curb. it was a lexus a few years old though clean and shinny. day thought he recognized the car. the tinted passenger side window came down.

‘hi, bruce. how are you?’

‘jenny? oh, hi. i’m doing ok. just getting some air.’

‘i was driving by heading home and i saw you standing there and…um…i usually don’t do this…but i was wondering if you’d like to take me out to dinner later? i know it’s not…ah…you were so kind to help out me earlier.’

it startled him some but bruce day handled it well. plus jenny’s radiant smile had him hooked.

‘well, i don’t see why not. i don’t have anything else going on tonight. why sure, i’d be honored.’

‘cool. ah, are you staying here?’

‘yeah. i’m just sorta passing through.’

‘alright. i’ll pick you up right here in two hours. i know a great place for prime rib.’

bruce said fine and jenny smiled again then waved while pulling away into traffic. damn, the ex bum thought, things were really beginning to look up.

jmh

in the kitchen he drank a glass of water at the sink then made a pot of coffee. while the coffee brewed he rummaged around in the kitchen drawers for a rubber band. finding one he went back into the living room and picked up the cash. deciding then to count it. the smell of the fresh coffee lured him back into the kitchen. baldo sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee and counting the cash in the early morning light. $8,266 was the grand total. he rolled the cash into a wad and placed the rubber band around it. satisfied it was secure he put the cash in a silverware drawer then went to take a shower.

several blocks away eddie layne was already working the phone. the calls weren’t making many folks happy that early sunday morning but once the problem was explained he had everyone’s sympathy and the early hour was quietly forgotten. eddie wasn’t making much headway though a few of his friends said they would call around as well since the baldo guy sounded some what familiar to them. they would get back to eddie as soon as they had something. eddie began to think maybe he should have started calling last night. sighing, he figured what was done was done. drumming his fingers on the kitchen table he lit a smoke and waited for the phone to ring.

the shower invigorated baldo as it washed away the sleep and last nights dread. after drying himself off he shaved then put on clean clothes. back in the kitchen he drank more coffee while wondering what he should do. stealing the money seemed like a good idea at the time last night but now in the light of the new day he wasn’t so sure. after all, eddie and danny layne lived in the same town as he. ontario wasn’t los angeles. more than likely very soon their paths would cross. yes, they had never met before but the theft of the crooked dice game money was another issue all together. baldo was sure the layne brothers would not let the theft drift off to be forgotten. then there was the jenny rider issue. she sure had taken him for a ride. christ. he was getting old.

one option was to call the cops and tell them the story. the problem with that was he’d probably never see any of his money again. for sure the cops would impound it as evidence and some judge just might decide the state should get the illegal gambling money. even if some of it had been acquired legally betting the horses. baldo was thinking he’d call a lawyer friend of his a bit later and run the deal by him. just to see what other options there might be. bustamonte finished off the pot of coffee while he made scrambled eggs and toast with apricot jelly. he decided to call his lawyer friend after he ate breakfast..

eddie layne was on his fourth cigarette and second pot of coffee when his brother walked into the kitchen. danny was sporting a small gauze patch on left side of his forehead.

‘how are you doing?’

‘ok. it finally stopped bleeding a couple of hours ago. i was beginning to think i was gonna need stitches. anymore coffee left? where’s jenny?’

‘yes and still asleep. i’ve already been making some calls. waiting now for something to come back to us. it will. just depends on how long it takes.’

‘yeah, no point going looking for his car. it’s probably in the garage or maybe he skipped town last night. hard to say.’

‘if he did skip he’ll have to come back sooner or later. we’ll have his place by then. he’ll be ours when he does come back.’

‘that’s right. eight grand or so isn’t enough to start all over. not at his age. he probably owns his house as well. if he’s gone he’ll be back.’

‘yep. i’m going to make a fried ham and egg sandwich. you want one?’

‘sure. i’ll get the bread ready.’

as the two brothers were finishing their breakfast the phone rang. eddie layne smiled as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

‘bingo. he’s ours.’

eddie picked up the phone and listened. he hung up after saying thank you.

‘he lives in that old two story house on the northwest corner of ‘d’ and fern. let’s roll.’

‘we’ll have to be careful. it’s sunday and they’ll be plenty of people at the church across the street.’

eddie layne smiled and said. ‘the organ music and singing will drown out anything mr. bustamonte has to say.’

danny laughed as he grabbed the cars keys and the two brothers left the house on their mission to recover their lost money.

baldo was still sitting at his kitchen table when something made him get up and go to the living room and look through the curtains and out to the street. a late model chevy or gmc truck had just pulled to the curb across the street. there were two men inside the vehicle. no mistake about it. the two men were eddie and danny layne. that was fast thought baldo as his mind raced to think of what he was going to do now. run was the only thing he could come up with. staying and shooting it out with the layne brothers probably wasn’t a good idea. nor was calling the cops.

they were still in the truck. probably figuring out their next move. baldo was glad they hadn’t planned it out already. it gave him a head start. he ran to the kitchen and pulled the wad of money from the drawer. he knew he didn’t have time to get his car so he just ran out the back door. he wasn’t very quiet about it. baldo just kept running. he ran through the backyard and left into the alley behind the house. for an older guy he was moving pretty good down the alley. as he was running he turned back to see if they were on to him yet. a bad move. baldo crashed into several trash cans. fell and lost the wad of cash in the pile up. he scrambled about a bit but couldn’t find the money. cursing himself he got up and kept on moving.

the layne brothers heard the backdoor slam. they knew baldo was on the move. instead of staying in the truck and using it to chase him they got out and started to run around the house. by the time they were in the front yard they heard the crash in the alley. hustling they hurried on towards the noise.

in an abandoned garage a bum or homeless guy had been sleeping off a cheap drunk. he was awakened by the crashing trash cans. it took him a bit but he found his bottle and stumbled outside about the time the layne brothers were running by. they literally ran into him. then shoved him into the trash cans. by this time they saw that baldo was gone from the alley. realizing their mistake the brothers turned and ran back to their car.

the bum laid there on the glass from his broken wine jug among the trash cans. amongst other assorted trash as well. he was somewhat dazed and confused. but that generally seemed to be the case with him. once he got his hungover thoughts together he tried to get up. it took a couple of tries and in doing so he cut himself on the broken wine bottle. when he finally stood up he noticed one hand was bleeding and the other was holding a large wad of cash wrapped with a rubber band.

by the time the brothers made it back to their truck and got it turned around in the sunday morning church traffic. then headed in the right direction it became painfully apparent baldo bustamonte was in the wind. cursing their stupidity they cruised slowly around the neighborhood. for some reason they choose to search to the north first. if they had gone south they might have found him. for that was the direction baldo had run. he was still running hard with no intention of slowing down. then he saw it.

the greyhound bus station. baldo knew he had a couple of hundred dollars in his wallet. he always carried the cash. you just never knew was what he said. he hustled into the bus station and was lucky enough to catch the bus that was just leaving bound for barstow. as he boarded the bus he thought tomorrow was another day. today was for getting the hell out of dodge in one piece.

the layne brothers cruised around the neighborhood for another half hour or so before giving up and heading home. they saw the bus depot but never put it together.

the bum? he’d gone back into his abandoned garage to count his new found fortune. he’d been counting for awhile when he realized that maybe this was someones idea to get him to straighten out his life. he’d consider it after he finished counting the cash. yeah, maybe if another jug of wine didn’t call to him in the meantime.

jmh

‘we’ve been all over the place talking about this and that i, ah, forgot to ask where we’re going to eat.’

‘make a right on foothill, old route 66, and head towards glendora. we’re going to the golden spur.’

‘ok. yeah, i’ve always wanted to go there. i hear the rack of lamb is outstanding.’

‘i’m surprised you’ve never done it. it’s not that far from the track. and the lamb is to die for.’

‘yeah, well you know. been by it any number of times. you want to know something else?’

‘what?’

‘i don’t know where you live. though i guess after dinner we could just drive around until you tell me.’

‘hahaha. that’s funny. and you’re right. i live in ontario. by the high school.’

‘no kidding? me too. i live downtown near the catholic church.’

it was odd that the two hadn’t spoken of where they lived until now but in the grand scheme of things the night was only going to get even more odd at best. dinner at the golden spur turned out to be as advertised. an outstanding rack of lamb cooked to perfection. baldo was impressed. the restaurant was someplace he’d be coming back to again. the dinner was leisurely and the talk still lively.

‘hey, look ms. jenny. before i drink anymore wine i think it’s about time i got you home. ok?’

‘sure. ok.’

the pair made their way out to baldo’s car and as they approached it jenny rider fell into baldo’s arms. they kissed deeply. when the embrace broke jenny smiled and spoke first.

‘you know baldo. i generally don’t do that with men i just met. especially men who could be considered father figures.’

‘thanks for putting that in such a nice way. let’s get out of here before i get some other ideas.’

the drive back to ontario was almost silent. the two content to just sit and be with one another. especially in bustamonte’s case. when they reached upland baldo made a right on euclid ave and headed south to ontario. jenny spoke.

‘i’m not ready to go home. i know of a dice game going down tonight. it might be fun. you interested?’

baldo thought to himself he was more interested in something else but said.

‘ok. sure why not? it might be fun. maybe i can parlay some of my horse money into a bigger bankroll. where is it?’

‘that’s the spirit, baldo. it’s at this guy’s house on ‘h’ st west of the iron skillet. north side. i know where it is.’

this really wasn’t something baldo wanted to do but he was going along with it if only for the fact he could spend some more time with jenny. even if it involved being around other people. he was thinking more along the lines of just the two of them in a more intimate setting. a dice game with strangers was far from his thoughts.

the night was dark and once they turned west on ‘h’ st it became even darker. the stately trees lining the street made it hard for the sparse street light to penetrate their foliage. what did manage to make it to the street could barely be called light.

‘ok. we’re almost there. two more houses. park anywhere.’

‘sure.’ was all bustamonte said. he was thinking other thoughts but didn’t want to say anything to jenny about them. he was afraid if he did his new found friend and the prospect of later fun would probably evaporate very quickly. thoughts like, who are these people? how did jenny know them and their game? were just a couple of the thoughts. as he parked his car jenny cuddled up close to him and lightly kissed him on the cheek.

‘this will be fun. i love a good craps game.’

‘ah, yeah. me too. let’s get going.’

once again baldo’s thoughts were on other things. he wanted only for the game to be over so he could possibly take on another situation with jenny rider. the two walked quietly hand in hand up to the home’s front porch. there were no lights on other than some at the back of the house. they cast stark shadows along the empty driveway. jenny rang the bell and after a few moments a very tall gentleman answered the ring.

‘jenny. nice to see you.’

‘hi, eddie. we’re here for the game. this is baldo. i hope you don’t mind.’

‘mind? nah, jenny. any friend of yours is ok by me. come on in. the game is in the back room.’

once inside the house jenny made the more formal introductions. eddie layne was the guy’s name. he and his brother danny owned the house and were running the game. it was something they did a few times a month for some fun and if they were lucky a little cash. or that was the story. baldo was thinking things didn’t look really kosher but his friend inside his pants was, at that point of the evening, doing most of his thinking for him. never a good thing to be sure.

there were a couple of other people in the back room when they entered. along with a good amount of cash on the floor. an old army blanket was in place as well and it was being used as the dice table as is were. there were three other men in the room.

‘it’s not vegas. but it works. hi, jenny.’

the man stuck his hand out towards baldo and said.

‘i’m danny. eddie’s brother.’

more introductions were made and baldo started to feel a little better about being there. he still wished he was somewhere else but decided to make the best of it. jenny went off to make them some drinks and the men resumed their game. the two other men had obviously been playing awhile and were not doing well. most of the money on the floor was theirs. which now belonged to the two brothers. when jenny came back with their drinks baldo had a very strange feeling once again but let it slide.

the two men continued to lose more money while bustamonte’s cash went up and down. mostly down. when he’d entered the game he had around $4,000 dollars. after a couple of drinks he was down to a bit under $2,000. this wasn’t working out like he had hoped. as for the other two men they got tired of losing and said good night. while eddie showed the two men to the door baldo stared at the money on the army blanket. there had to be a good 6 or 7 thousand dollars there. maybe even more.

he sighed and wished he was still a cigarette smoker. as he looked up he noticed a reflection in a picture on the wall. the reflection clearly showed eddie and jenny in the hallway locked in an embrace with eddie’s hand up jenny’s dress and hers on eddie’s crotch. what the hell? by this time baldo was fairly drunk but it didn’t take him long to figure out the score. he was being taken for a ride by miss jenny and her two friends. and he was fairly certain that the dice were loaded and the game was totally rigged in their favor. how had he gotten himself into this situation? yeah, right. his little friend.

jenny and eddie came back into the room and the dice game began again. as baldo lost a few more hundred dollars he began to get antsy. he wasn’t sure what he was going to do but he needed to do something. at that point jenny left to make more drinks and eddie went to the can. that left baldo and danny alone in the room together. time for his move. it was now or never thought baldo. sure, he wasn’t thinking very straight but that’s one thought that didn’t occur to him.

danny was sitting on his haunches counting the large wad of cash. suddenly, baldo grabbed a framed photograph on a table and struck danny in the head with it as he shoved him very hard into the wall. baldo scooped up all of the cash and headed for the front door. he was outside and on the run before anyone in the house knew what was going on. well, other than danny. he made it to his car and had it fired up as the front door opened and light streamed out onto the dark front yard. it was eddie layne.

baldo burned rubber as he left the curb then sped down the dark street without the cars headlights. at the corner he barely slowed down as he made a careening left and sped towards his home. eddie was in the middle of the street by this time and knew trying to catch baldo at this point wasn’t very likely. he went back into the house to check on his brother.

jenny had a wet towel and was holding it to danny’s forehead. there were a few drops of blood on the floor.

‘you ok, bro?’

‘yeah, the fucker cold cocked me. it’s just a flesh wound. i’ll be ok.’

‘he got all of the cash didn’t he?’

‘fraid so, eddie. sorry.’

‘me too guys. i…i…never thought it would come to this…’

‘well shit, jenny who did?’ it was eddie who spoke. he continued.

‘you did good in finding him, jenny. real good. you’ve got a real talent for that. did you find out where he lives?’

‘no, well, not really. someplace around st. george’s.’

‘ok. it’s a start.’

eddie grabbed the phone and called information and asked for baldo’s number. it was unlisted.

‘it’s not a large area but too big to start looking tonight. if he’s even going home. i’ll make a couple of calls in the morning. we’ll find him.’

baldo bustamonte drove south down vine with his lights still off. he ran the stop at ‘g’ st and kept on going south. when he reached ‘d’ st he ran the stop as he turned left. his luck was still holding as there was no one else out and about at that hour. not even the cops. when he reached his home on the corner of ‘d’ and fern he pulled his car into the garage in the alley. collected all the cash. got out of the car. closed the garage door and went into the house. sitting alone and thinking in the dark living room baldo bustamonte fell asleep on the couch tightly clutching the large wad of cash.

jmh

baldo bustamonte made his way to the betting windows where he placed $500 across the board on the number 4, 5, and 8 horses. it was his usual opening race bet. regardless of who the horses or jockeys were or the odds. regardless of anything other than the numbers: 4, 5, and 8. they were a combination of his birth month and birth year. and it was something he’d been doing ever since he started going to the races with his parents back in the early 60′s. too young then to place bets so his mom or dad placed the bets for him. of course, the bet back then was nothing close to his now standard $500 opening bet. over the years he’d actually been fairly lucky with it. maybe lady luck would smile on him again today.

after placing his bet baldo wandered over to a concession stand and bought a couple of hot dogs and a draft beer. he brought the food and drink back to his seat and was elated to see the cigar smoker’s seat was empty and there was no newspaper or racing form over it’s back. maybe today was going to be a lucky day after all. smiling and humming an old gram parsons tune while he ate, baldo almost choked on his beer when a stunning young lady made her way to the now empty seat. stunning and alone. fortune was indeed smiling on baldo this cool clear january afternoon. or so it seemed.

the well dressed young woman got up and placed her racing form over the back of the seat. sweet, baldo thought, she’s here for awhile at least. while thinking that thought their eyes met and baldo felt a quick jolt as the young lady smiled at him. post time was quickly approaching so she was probably on her way to make a bet. baldo decided to let things take whatever course they would take regarding the young lady. he wasn’t going to push it. even though pushing it wouldn’t be a bad idea. she was gorgeous. he was there for the races and hopefully for a much needed inflow of cash. not there to get lucky with the ladies. ladies usually meant a cash outflow. time would tell on both counts.

first post had sounded and the horses were out on the track walking to the starting gate when the young woman returned. she removed the newspaper from the back of her seat and shot baldo another jolting smile. if this keeps up, he thought, i’m in trouble. baldo bustamonte needed a clear head if he was going to make any money on the horses today. though he did smile back. more like a lopsided ear to ear grin. he told himself to chill out as he began to study the second race card in the racing form.

as the horses neared the starting gate baldo put down his paper and watched them enter the gate with his field glasses. they were a calm lot and none of them seemed to be spooked by anything or anyone. probably a good sign. when the last horse entered the gate a split second later the bell rang and the track announcer’s voice came over the speakers. ‘and they’re off!’

as the horses made their first pass in front of the stands baldo was pleasantly surprised to see the 4, 5, and 8 horses in the lead running neck and neck. rounding the first turn it seemed as if they were beginning to pull away while still running as a trio. neck and neck. the clear almost three dimensional san gabriel mountains are the perfect backdrop to the santa anita backstretch. the backstretch where baldo’s horses were still neck and neck and a good two lengths in front of the next horse. as he watched the three horses through his field glasses he began to feel his pulse quicken. there was nothing like it. a bunch of money riding on the first race. a bunch of money on your horses in the first race. and your horses in the lead as they approached the second turn and the home stretch.

coming through the last turn almost seemed to slingshot the three horses down the home stretch. their lead now three and a half lengths. still running neck and neck. baldo stood up and cheered his horses on. the rest of the crowd was on their feet as well. yelling. cheering. urging on the horses. by the time they reached the finish line they were five lengths in front and the number 4 horse had the lead by a neck. the number 5 horse in second by a nose with number 8 in the show position as they thundered past and crossed the finish line. baldo bustamonte was ecstatic as he yelled and jumped up and down. he’d done a quick calculation in his head and figured he was now up in the neighborhood of $2,300. sweet indeed.

the crowd began to calm down a bit but there was still a buzz in the air. they had just seen something almost magical. something almost unbelievable. three horses running neck and neck. wire to wire. a few minutes later when the numbers were posted baldo let out a shriek when he saw he’d won $2,556 on the first race. a new record for him and his standard opening bet. he was still jumping up and down yelling when the young lady turned and looked at him saying.

‘you must have hit the jackpot.’

‘pretty much. it’s a nice hit for sure. my biggest first race ever.’

‘lucky you.’

yeah. lucky me. thought baldo bustamonte. lucky me.

baldo sat down and dug out his winning ticket from his shirt pocket. he held it in both hands as he looked at it. while he was staring at the ticket he was drawn from his reverie once again by the young lady.

‘i won a couple of bucks too. let’s cash our tickets in and get a drink.’

baldo looked up at her smiled and said. ‘sure. sounds like a plan to me.’

as the two made their way to the nearest aisle baldo was thinking this was turning out to be a very lucky day indeed. when they got to the asile baldo introduced himself. as they were shaking hands the young lady told baldo her name was, jenny rider. they walked up the stairs to the pay out windows and collected their winnings, chatting along the way.

since they had forgotten to save their seats baldo suggested an upgrade to the ‘turf club’ for their drink. his treat. jenny agreed and they made their way to the club. once inside they got their drinks sat down and chatted some more. it turned out jenny had come to the track with some guy she’d recently started dating. for some reason or another they gotten into a fight and jenny had left the guy and wandered over into the area where baldo was sitting in order to get away from the guy. baldo just listened and sipped his vodka rocks while inserting ah huhs and nods as needed. jenny was saying that the problem now was she had no ride home. baldo, being ever the gentleman, said he’d be willing to give jenny a ride home after the last race. jenny smiled and told him thanks. the stupid lopsided grin was back on baldo’s face

the two new friends spent the rest of the day in the ‘turf club’ betting on the horses and getting to know each other. they seemed to be hitting it off fairly well. baldo’s luck stayed with him as well. he won several more races and collected another $1,800 or so. after the eighth race baldo asked if jenny had had enough of the races and if she wouldn’t mind leaving now so they could miss the majority of the crowd heading home later. jenny agreed. she then suggested stopping at a restaurant she knew of on the way for dinner. baldo said fine with him. yes, things were looking up for baldo bustamonte. or so it seemed.

jmh

there’s been a few odd christmas eves in my addled and some what sorta wasted life. vietnam being the first.  the trip down to the beach and the south china sea in order to pick up a very odd south vietnamese sorta pine tree for the hooch and christmas.  three of us.  one sorta pine like tree was found and chopped down with the machette.  though in it’s limbs lurked a two step viper.  the most deadly of all snakes in vietnam.  i spotted the fucker and it was killed, in all it’s glory, by the three of us dumping three mags of m-16 ammo into it’s slim and very tiny but deadly body. instant sashimi. the tree ended up in the hooch with some sorta christmas lights and stuff.  one of the more odd and sad christmas’ in my sad demented life.

the other being a couple of years ago when i was on my own and living by myself.  yes, well, for whatever reasons.  i was sick with the flu and it was around 2am on christmas eve day.  i had gotten out of bed in order to pee and fell back into said bed when i heard 4 shots ring out and the death, ahhhh, from the dead guy.  the bedroom window was open.  turns out to have been a homeless guy and a drug deal gone bad.  well, that was the street version any the ways.  the true version i’m sure.  though to this day there are still folks out there who think the guy was a sorta saint.   just goes to show what the straight world knows about anything.  the other homeless had no use for the said dead guy.  trust me.

yeah, it’s christmas and i hope all of you have a very good and pleasant one.  there’s folks out there that aren’t going to have one.  that being a merry or pleasant christmas.  sad but true.  i hope you all do something to help those less fortunate.  that might include those in the military and off doing the bidding of those who seem to run shit.   yeah, well. any rate, have a merry christmas and a happy new year.

jmh

make no mistake, it’s all about the money. as you are reading this insanity dump trucks the size of rhode island and belly dumpers twice the size of oahu are being loaded up with tons and tons of cash. used bills with nothing larger than a twenty are being shoveled into the trucks then sent on their way to the deans and regents of pretty much ever school of higher learning in the land. yeah, small used bills with non sequential serial numbers and none of them wrapped with those pesky bands either. for you see, the deans and regents like to wallow buck ass naked in and amongst the used cash. TV folks on the other hand prefer bills no smaller than a cee note. the newer and crisper the better. of course, all properly counted and banded for them. it makes it easier to wire transfer stuff that way. banded currency flows down the wires and out to those off shore accounts much quicker. it also makes it easier to disappear that way. penn and teller are jealous of the speed and greed of the self serving TV crowd.

i’ve been saying this for a few years now. you want playoffs? the BCS doesn’t. no matter what they say. the deans, regents, and comissioners? hell no they don’t. TV? surely you jest. the coaches? another slippery bunch as well. they actually like the current system despite anything they say to the contrary concerning playoffs. why? everybody going to one of the antiquated bowls gets another 21 days more or less of practice. 21 more days of practice the left out bunch doesn’t get. 21 days of sanctioned NCAA one ups man-ship over the also rans. see? no one really wants a playoff system.

too much money slopping around. plenty of lip service and out right balderdash from the deans and regents. who along with the TV folks and antiquated bowls want nothing more than the lip service and loads of balderdash. there are way too many hot needy strippers who need the money doled out by this bunch of crazed fools bent on out drinking a flotilla of sailors on shore leave. they’re all a sad bunch indeed. we on the other hand sit on our hands and enable all those dumb asses. you want playoffs? it’s very simple, kids. and i’m going to keep at it until everyone out there gets it. stop the madness. stop buying tickets to these bowl games. if no one shows up for the games they’ll go away. eventually. perhaps even more important stop watching them on TV. you folks do that they’ll for sure go away and bingo here come the playoffs. it’s not brain surgery people. it’s simple math with a playoff system at the end of the rainbow. suck it up and just do it.

the feds aren’t going to help because they’re just as greedy and corrupt as all of the deans, regents, commissioners, and TV dimwits combined. get over that idea. they can’t even manage the stuff they ought to be doing. let alone ‘fixing college football’. yeah, they’ll fix it alright. fix it right out of existence. then tell us that’s what we really wanted in the first place because football is violent and promotes winning. two very evil things to be sure.

yeah, ok. you came here to read about ‘your’ team and what someone thinks about their chances of wining one of these useless turkeys. fine i’ll pander to some of you. why not? you won’t be getting all of the games because 90% of them are unwatchable at best. no one cares other than you. just remember this is for fun and entertainment purposes only. no spreads or points or any of that stuff here. just straight up win or lose.

rock ‘n’ roll.

12/17 new mexico bowl. temple @ wyoming. interesting because wyoming is playing some good football. also interesting because only a few years ago temple was the worst college team in the country. i’ll take wyoming.

12/17 new orleans bowl. san diego st @ la lafayette. i’m a so calif homer. too bad the aztecs are stuck in this mess of a game. enjoy bourbon st kids but don’t forget there’s a game to play. take san diego st.

12/22 maaco bowl. arizona st @ boise st. might be a decent match up. kellen moore will have already been hosed by the heisman voters so he has nothing to lose. take out the bowl insurance policy and keep him in the whole game for a change coach petersen. take boise st.

12/24 hawaii bowl. nevada @ s. mississippi. only interesting in the fact it will be possibly fun to see if s. miss can get up for another game. take the golden eagles.

12/29 alamo bowl. washington @ baylor. baylor gets a shot at walking all over the huskies. come on sark make it a game, please. take baylor.

12/30 pinstripe bowl. iowa st @ rutgers. big apple thugs are looking forward to the iowa hayseeds flocking to the big city for this one. rutgers gets the nod in order to get the ‘home’ crowd out and in the seats. iowa st thumps rutgers handily.

12/31 fight hunger bowl. illinois @ ucla. the bruins back into another game. this one sans slick rick. they get a gimme from the BCS clowns and the PAC 12 gets a bit more cash in their christmas stocking. amazing. take illinois just because.

1/2 ticket city bowl. houston @ penn st. houston gets a shot at redemption. just remember you must actually play the game in order to receive it, houston. oh alright, take houston.

1/2 rose bowl. wisconsin @ oregon. the granddaddy of them all. i fell in love with the ducks back in 1958 when they lost to ohio st or maybe it was wisconsin in the rose bowl. doesn’t matter really. i still love them. memo to visor head kelly, erase both loses in the ducks other recent bowl games with a win here. you’ll also have to get the team to play much better than they did against the bruins. can you please make a PAC 12 homer proud? thanks in advance. QUACK QUACK!!!!

1/2 fiesta bowl. stanford @ oklahoma st. probably a good game. or maybe the best of the lot. the cowboys hosed by the BCS chumps should be fighting mad. good luck trees. take the cowboys. andrew, take out the insurance. you just might need it.

1/9 BCS championship. alabama @ lsu. the game only the SEC wants to see. the rest of the country be damned. talking heads and the BCS get it all wrong one more bloody time. i love the tide but they played some backwater school in week 13 then sat out week 14. none the less ipso presto facto they end up here in a rematch with lsu. yawn. one i won’t be watching. if you want playoffs you shouldn’t watch this either. time to send a message to all involved in this sordid mess of a system. DON’T WATCH THIS GAME. PERIOD. it’s not even interesting to begin with as it’s a repeat. re-run. re-tread. screw em.

there ya go. merry christmas and happy new year. these are the only bowl games that i have some sort of vague interest in watching. though i probably won’t even watch many of them. the rest of the bowls? no interest what so ever. i don’t care and neither should you. shame on you for sitting around watching this crap foisted upon us by all the greed heads involved. take a stand and turn off your TV and don’t buy tickets to any of the games. it’s the only way the point will ever get across to the numb nuts involved.

jmh

picking the 10 games for this week wasn’t that easy. of course, we’ve got the championship games themselves. they were easy enough but there’s just 5 of them. thankfully, there are still a few schools playing some other games as well. the obligatory finishing up the season deals. fine with me as it works in the over all symmetry of things. plus, it gives me something to yammer about other than THE BIG games.

for the last time this year, just remember this is for fun and entertainment purposes only. using anything here for legal or illegal gaming would be insane at best. a really dumb move on multiple levels. don’t do it. keep your wallet in your pocket where it belongs and nobody gets hurt. taking care of your families and even yourself is more important.

the point spreads used here are what i go by in determining my wins and losses for the week. the points may change by game times but what is here is what i use.

rock ‘n’ roll.

12/2 ucla @ oregon. PAC 12 championship. oregon favored by 31.5 points. i may as well jump on the bruins backed into this puppy bandwagon. boy howdy, you can say that again. humiliated by the trojans last week and six days later playing the ducks in the inaugural PAC 12 championship game. amazing. through the glass darkly indeed. hookah smoking caterpillars and all. what is going on here? well, i guess slick rick isn’t going to get one more game and maybe even a bowl game if somebody jerry rigs the flawed BCS deal even more as some are predicting. slick rick was fired by ucla yesterday. adios, slick rick. the timing is a bit odd but slick gets to coach this game friday then he’s gone. no jerry rigged bowl game for him. win or lose. yes, yes. it ain’t over till it’s over and the overweight operatic lady belts one out. however, the bruins winning this little nugget would be along the lines of, well, let’s just say some sort of divine intervention during this christmas season would be needed. though i’m sure visor head kelly will have his hands full this week keeping his kids focused on the game at hand and not down the road on some bowl game with all the related ‘stuff’ involved. he has enough trouble keeping some of them out of the backseat of police cruisers in eugene. it’s a load of points but the ducks should have no problem in covering them and winning. take the ducks. QUACK QUACK!!!!

12/3 s. mississippi @ houston. C USA championship. houston favored by 13 points. unless i’m mistaken this will be the first time all season either team has played a ranked opponent. good old C USA. houston playing at home is pretty much unstoppable. if case keenum is healthy and plays the cougars will probably roll over southern miss. a good game and another chance to watch an outstanding young quarterback. take houston to win and cover.

12/3 iowa st @ kansas st. kansas st favored by 10.5 points. iowa st gets one more shot at screwing up another schools december/january plans. though since their upset victory over oklahoma st things have slid downhill. some wags might even say back to normal. not me. yeah, most years their record blows. however, they are one of the perennial spoilers in the FBS. more often than not the cyclones are apt to screw up just about any other teams saturday. iowa st has also played 7 yes, SEVEN, ranked teams this year. yeah, ok they lost to most of them. however, look to those games as character building or trial by fire. plus, not many schools can say they played SEVEN ranked teams this year or another year for that matter. a let down last week for the cyclones. back in the saddle this week. take iowa st to at least get inside the spread and maybe even win.

12/3 texas @ baylor. baylor favored by 3 points. almost a toss up. home court advantage, the bears. texas righted their ship last weekend. will that be enough? maybe not. baylor has robert griffin lll at qb. take baylor to win and cover the spread.

12/3 georgia @ lsu. SEC championship game. lsu favored by 13 points. the game is supposedly being played on a neutral field. i guess a game played in another venue other than georgia’s sanford stadium is a neutral site for them. i would also guess that said game in atlanta would be considered an away game. i don’t think so. make no mistake this is a home game for the bulldogs. i hope georgia wins for any number of reasons. but i doubt they will. however, take the bulldogs to at least get inside the point spread.

12/3 new mexico @ boise st. boise st favored by 48.5 points. boise st failed, yet again, to cover the spread last week. thanks, wyoming for giving me the win. i probably should have picked the wyoming/colorado st game instead of this possible train wreck in the making game. new mexico has one of the worst FBS programs going. good luck to, bob davie in turning the lobos program around in the next few years. though he just might pull it off. plus, he gets to live in new mexico while he attempts doing just that. win win for him. kellen moore’s last regular season game. one last shot at churning out more smurf turf records. one last shot at impressing the heisman voters. the biggest question being, can he throw enough touchdown passes to cover the boat load of points? i see no reason for boise st not to cover the spread and win. take boise st.

12/3 byu @ hawaii. byu favored by 7.5 points. another filler game. though byu has very quietly come a long way since labor day weekend. even getting dumped on by the big east conference because byu wouldn’t play nice in the big east sandbox. i can’t really blame byu, the big east needed them. byu doesn’t need the big east. though byu does need the almighty big east AQ status. they also need their ninth win of the year to put a nice stamp on their decision to stay an indy and not share their TV bucks with anyone else. if byu’s qb is cleared to play and byu’s defense catches the plane bound for oahu the cougars should win and cover the spread. take them.

12/3 oklahoma @ oklahoma st. oklahoma st favored by 3.5 points. home field 3 plus for the cowboys. big time rivalry game here, kids. should be the game of the weekend. oklahoma st has had since november 18 and their loss to iowa st to get ready for this one. i’m assuming they’re ready to rumble. probably more than ready. take the cowboys to win and cover the points.

12/3 wisconsin @ michigan st. Big 10 championship. wisconsin favored by 9.5 points. i don’t get this one. a rematch of the game back in october. the spartans won at home. not a home game for the rematch but wisconsin is favored. is that it? what am i missing here? take michigan st to at least get inside the spread at minimum and more than likely to win again.

12/3 virginia tech @ clemson. ACC championship. virginia tech favored by 7.5 points. clemson is coming off two losses in a row. qb logan thomas is looking to reverse his loss at clemson back in october. he hasn’t lost a game since then. a perfect roll since october 1st. take virginia tech to win and cover the spread.

these games and some others close out the regular college football season. thanks to all of you for reading this year and i hope you find me again next year in september when i start the insanity all over again. you could also come back next week for my take on the college bowls for this year. i hope you do. either way the safe bet is as always, red meat and red wine. be safe. be semi sane.

jmh

the one big bright spot for the weekend and myself was the fact iowa st handed oklahoma st their hat. along with illinois hanging in there with wisconsin and michigan battering the cornhuskers. once again boise st failed to cover the spread and i’ll be happy to take that slim san diego st victory. with the graduation of kellen moore boise st could very well be in worse straights next year. also an epic battle between my ducks and trojans. coach lane, to be sure, sticking one to visor head kelly. a bitter sweet game if there ever was one for yours truly.

week 13 is all about rivalry weekend. pre and post turkey day madness. there is the ever present possibility that this weeks games could make last weeks upsets look mild in comparison. along with the related BCS implications and bowl berth slots here one day and gone the next. or maybe not. this weekend, my friends, is what college football is all about. rivalries. winning one for the gipper and taking an old rival out of some bowl or title game. though any number of the schools seem to be willing to throw rivalries and other related sundry stuff under the bus in order to pander to the almighty AQ berth(s) and the TV cash cow. more on that in a couple of weeks. at any rate, other than the first week of the season this is my favorite week of college football.

what is presented here is for fun and entertainment purposes only. it is not meant to used by the reader to take to his or her betting guru or sports book in order to bet the farm away. leave your wallet in your pocket where it belongs and nobody gets hurt. taking care of your family and yourself is more important. trust me.

rock ‘n’ roll.

11/24 texas @ texas a&m. texas a&m favored by 9 points. turkey day college ball. probably a good game with some lone star state bragging rights. the longhorns haven’t scored many points the last two games. the aggies beat iowa st and baylor. take texas A&m to win and cover.

11/25 houston @ tulsa. houston favored by 3 points. basically a toss up. tulsa has played 3 ranked teams and lost. houston hasn’t played a ranked team this year. i’m guessing houston will stay undefeated for the regular season. take houston to win and cover.

11/25 arkansas @ lsu. lsu favored by 12 points. if the game were being played in arkansas i think it would be closer. the sad death of the young arkansas tight end might inspire the razorbacks to make this a closer game as well. number one lsu’s home crowd makes the difference here. take lsu to win and cover the points.

11/26 georgia @ georgia tech. georgia favored by 6 points. georgia tech started losing late in the season. the bulldogs on the other hand lost early. they lost their first two games and have rolled ever since. in a game that could go either way georgia has the momentum. take georgia to win and cover the spread.

11/26 wyoming @ boise st. boise st favored by 32.5 points. once again a bunch of points for boise st. to cover. covering the spread hasn’t been one of their strong points this season. for what it’s worth, kellen moore has one more home game after this one to further impress the heisman gang. the cowboys are one of my upset teams for the year. wyoming may not win but they are playing well and they will get inside the points. take the wyoming cowboys.

11/26 oregon st @ oregon. oregon favored by 28 points. civil war time in oregon. along with another bunch of points. this is always a game that can go either way in any year. oregon st hasn’t played well this season. though they did beat washington last week. while the ducks lost to the trojans. another crazed autzen stadium home crowd probably still reeling a bit from the loss to usc. the ducks need to bounce back and visor head kelly will hopefully help make that happen. take the ducks to win and cover. QUACK QUACK!!!

11/26 alabama @ auburn. alabama favored by 21 points. both schools played a fighting road kill last weekend. sort of an oddity this late in the season and something i don’t really get. i love the tide but 3 fighting road kill wins for the number two BCS team? it makes you wonder at times. any the ways, bragging rights for the state of alabama and another game that could go either way. a bunch of points and bama’s offense had better show up this week or they won’t be covering the spread. let alone looking for a re-match with lsu. plus, most folks don’t care much for defensive struggles. we tend to nod off or channel surf. be that as it may, take the tide to win and cover the points. ROLL TIDE!!!

11/26 clemson @ s. carolina. s. carolina favored by 4 points. i guess it’s the home court 3 plus one here. i’m not seeing it either. take clemson to win or at the very least get inside the meager spread.

11/26 notre dame @ stanford. stanford favored by 6.5 points. another long flight for the domers. their last trip out here to the left coast was for a loss against the trojans. this trip should be no different. touchdown jesus barely survived a boston college team that resembles oregon st. this year. at one point this was stanford’s year. that train has left the station. stanford needs this one in order to have any chance at all for a shot at the rose bowl. and it’s a long shot. hopefully, they will be up for the challenge. if they aren’t the irish could take it. this is probably luck’s last chance at impressing the heisman folks. he needs to shine. i think he will. take the trees to win and cover.

11/26 ucla @ usc. usc favored by 14.5 points. the city of lost angels bragging rights are on the line. these kids see each other all over town all year long. some have been playing each other since high school. make no mistake, this is the biggest game of the year in lotus land. records mean nothing. slick rick needs this puppy to keep his job and he knows it. yes, he’s done pretty well for the year. much better than expected and the bruins have a shot at the pac 12 south due to the trojan’s problem. thanks once again, coach petey. another bowl game for the trojans. one of many this year for them. though this one is their biggest. coach lane has done a very good job in keeping the trojans focused. he’s instilled enough pride to get the job done most weeks. count on both squads to show up for this game. it might be close early but the trojans roll. take usc to win and cover. FIGHT ON!!!

only one more weekend to go and then it’s gone only to be replaced by the bowl games and winter’s grip. college football. because if you’re reading this you’re like me and college football is your favorite sport. enjoy the games, your holiday, and your families. for this week only, replace the red meat with turkey, chicken, or duck and pour some pinot noir. be safe. be semi sane. have a happy thanksgiving! cheers!

jmh