Beat the Guru: AFL Week 9
Adam Markowitz
Thursday April 24, 2008
But before we move forward to the week ahead, let’s look back at the week that was in Guru World.
It wasn’t a stellar week for the Guru, as I only posted a 3-5 mark and lost a game in the standings to the Arena Guru of Arena Football Online. However, I did successfully call outright upsets by New York and Kansas City, which is at least something I can hang my hat on. I can also rest easily that eight weeks into the season, I still haven’t lost a week to the 8-Ball, which also went 3-5 this past week.
AFLGuru: 36-27 (57.1%)
Arena Guru: 35-28 (55.6%)
8-Ball: 19-44 (30.1%)
The standings are getting tighter and tighter as individuals are putting up some outstanding weeks. For the second straight week, we’ve had someone put up a remarkable 7-1 record. This week, the honors go to Rush43. MBoyle posted the only other winning week at 5-3, but BiffNixon and InsideSix both beat me with 4-4 records.
Disclaimer: This information should be used for entertainment purposes only. Should you choose to actually lay real money on these games, that’s purely your choice, and neither I nor ArenaFan are responsible. All lines are courtesy of Olympic Sports as of Wednesday evening.
Kansas City Brigade (+5) @ Grand Rapids Rampage: Let’s hear it for the Brigade, who finally notched their first win of the 2008 season with their 2-point victory over the Crush last weekend. As sad as it sounds, this game between two teams with a combined three victories really does have a lot of playoff implications on the line. I’ve made fun of KC Head Coach Kevin Porter for stating that the Brigade are in “good shape” a few weeks back, but a victory in Grand Rapids would really put his team right back in the thick of things for a wild card spot in the lowly American Conference. Step one would be not giving up 92 points again like they did in Week 4 to this same Rampage squad.
Guru’s Pick: Upset Special, Brigade by 6
8-Ball’s Pick: Rampage
Utah Blaze (+13) @ New Orleans VooDoo: Things keep getting worse for Danny White and the Utah Blaze, who have dropped to 0-8 and are now just 1-6-1 against the spread this season. As for the New Orleans VooDoo, a very impressive road win in Arizona has lifted them to 6-2. With Danny Wimprine under center, the ‘Doo are both 6-1 straight up and 6-1 against the spread. They’ve also covered their last five outings in the Big Easy. Your stat of the day for New Orleans: If you took the other three teams in the Southern Division and added their forced turnovers together, the VooDoo are still plus three. Yo!
Guru’s Pick: VooDoo by 16
8-Ball’s Pick: Blaze
Chicago Rush (-7) @ Colorado Crush: Speaking of ships that are sinking… If the Utah Blaze are Exhibit A, the Colorado Crush can’t be far behind. Another week, another two INTs for Crush QB John Dutton. With the ball-hawking defense of the rival Rush coming to town, expect the turnover battle, and consequently the game, to be very lopsided in favor of the visitors. Don’t be overly surprised if that loss to winless Kansas City starts a large swing of losses for Colorado, who could be set to drop to 0-3 in division.
Guru’s Pick: Rush by 3 TDs
8-Ball’s Pick: Rush
Georgia Force (-7.5) @ Arizona Rattlers: Dear Arizona: Thanks for making me look like a fool last week when I picked you to win straight up against New Orleans. Signed- AFLGuru… For the third straight week, the Rattlers play a team from the South, and the results have been polar opposites. Lang Campbell threw a whopping five interceptions and looked completely lost at times against a potent ‘Doo ‘D’. We’ll hope that was an anomaly. As for the Force… A second tough loss to Orlando on the season really may just spell the continuation of a very long year where nothing goes their way.
Guru’s Pick: Upset special, Rats by a deuce
8-Ball’s Pick: Rattlers
Cleveland Gladiators (+4.5) @ New York Dragons: Alright, alright Rohan Davey fans. Congrats on getting your first victory with Davey on the Glads sidelines. While on paper, this game seems to be pretty evenly matched, the fact that Davey lurks on the sidelines to replace the often-injured Raymond Philyaw makes me cringe. Though I really don’t know the stat, I wonder how many different guys can say that they lost to a team in one week, and then lost to the team he used to play for later in the season…
Guru’s Pick: Fighting Aaron Garcia’s by 13
8-Ball’s Pick: Gladiators
Tampa Bay Storm (+5.5) @ Orlando Predators: Ah yes, it’s Part 1 of the 2008 edition of the War on I-4. I think there’s little doubt that Shane Stafford is one of the toughest SOB’s in the league after coming back from a lacerated ear that required a dozen stitches and leading the Preds to victory from two scores down against the Georgia Force with five minutes to go. If he can play through that, I sincerely doubt he’s going to want to miss out on a chance to bury his old mates even further into the depths of obscurity in the South. Eating in the media room last week in Tampa Bay gave me food poisoning, but after setting the jinx this week with my article on the Storm, I think that sick feeling that’s still in my stomach has more to do with the outcome of this game than the food. I’ll accept my public flogging after the game from Predator Nation should we lose.
Guru’s Pick: Upset Special, Storm by 3
8-Ball’s Pick: Predators
Los Angeles Avengers (+12.5) @ San Jose SaberCats: Even after posting a 21-point victory over the Utah Blaze this past weekend, things still don’t feel right in San Jose. With my luck though, this is where the SaberCats start to turn it around… just in time to visit the Jungle next weekend…
Guru’s Pick: SaberKitties by 20
8-Ball’s Pick: SaberCats
Dallas Desperados (+5.5) @ Philadelphia Soul: This is the game. This is what stands between the Dallas Desperados and a perfect 19-0 season. For as much as we get force-fed Philadelphia Soul coverage, I wish that ESPN would seriously pump this game up as the greatest thing known to man. Even though it isn’t nearly the rivalry that the Storm and Predators share (yet), these two teams should be able to come together and make a truly big spectacle. The ratings really should be quite high for this matchup, and I wouldn’t expect anything less than a terrific game to boot. I don’t think there’s much doubt in which way I’m going on the final outcome of this one, though. Gimme Clint and the ‘Rados off of their bye week in the biggest game of the season.
Guru’s Pick: Upset special, Desperados by 1 on a 2-point conversion to end it
8-Ball’s Pick: Soul
As I mentioned earlier, the standings are getting a lot tighter, and though I’m only a tad bit behind the pace being set by AFLJunkie, there are a few that are really starting to close in after having awesome weeks.
Beat the Guru’s Top 10 (must have 25 games selected to qualify)
AFLJunkie: 35-25 (58.3%)
AFLGuru: 36-27 (57.1%)
Rush43: 31-24 (56.4%)
Arena Guru: 35-28 (55.6%)
InsideSix: 34-29 (54.0%)
Es46ne10: 33-28 (53.2%)
EKUVolley: 30-33 (47.6%)
SoulPhan71: 15-18 (45.5%)
MBoyle: 14-18 (43.8%)
TDTommy: 27-37 (42.2%)
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Adam Markowitz is an accountant living in Orlando. Adam is an old school AFLer, having followed the AFL since 1991. He attended or covered well over 200 games, including 17 ArenaBowls. Adam worked for the Arena Football League for two years as a columnist and historian before retiring in 2017 when the 50-yard indoor war left the Sunshine State. Adam still muses about the AFL on ArenaFan from time to time, and you can follow him on Twitter @adammarkowitzea.
