It’s finally back.  The real deal is here.  The tease of preseason that leaves you feeling empty and cheated is behind us.  No longer is Sunday the day to help your wife with house chores.  It is your day again...yours to get together with other stinky men and consume mass quantities of your favorite beverage, while shouting in unison at people on the big screen that cannot hear you.  On Thursday night the NFL returns.

I have to find a winning pick here soon, or I’m going to need to purchase a smaller bread box to move into.  My picks have been getting “stale.”  My capping has been “moldy.”  Insert whatever other “yeasty” like adjectives you want in there.  No matter how you “slice” it, BREAD NEEDS A WINNER!

The defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants (-4) will be hosting the Washington Redskins on Thursday at 7 PM.  This matchup has been a source of much pain for me throughout the years.  Growing up a Skins fan and having a Giants fan for a best friend could be best described as torturous.

Bread was still rockin the Skins gear when he met Robyn

Since 1990 (the entirety of my adult life), I have been watching football with Marcus.  Keep in mind that he is nowhere near as interesting as the name might imply.  I could match wits and go toe to toe with him in most aspects of our friendship.  The one area he always had the upper hand on me, would be those two Sundays each year that our teams played each other.

During that stretch, the Giants have won 21 of the 36 head to head matchups.  I don’t remember any of the 15 Redskins victories at all, but I have a detailed, bitter recollection of each and every loss.  There is nothing worse than the verbal beat-down that a friend will impose on you when your team loses to his.  Back then, I would rather hear him tell me that he was having an affair with my girl, than to hear more trash talking about the Giants.

In recent years, as I have become more involved with sports wagering, I have lost most of my affiliation to any team in particular.  If there is money to potentially be made, team loyalty goes out the window.  Meddling owner Daniel Snyder has made it all the easier to let go of the Skins.

The Giants are 20-15-1 ATS during that same stretch.  Dating back to last year, including the playoffs, they have covered six in a row.  I think the defending champs feel jilted with the lack of respect they are receiving.  Not only are they not even favored to win their division, but they aren’t even supposed to finish second in the NFC East!

Marcus owns this poster

For eight consecutive years, the defending Super Bowl champs have won their season opener.  The Giants should do the same, but by how much?  The betting line on this game alone reeks of disrespect.

Am I really to believe that New York can’t beat the Redskins at home by more than four points?   Am I really to believe that Redskins rookie head coach Jim Zorn can compete here, behind mediocre quarterback Jason Campbell?  I’m not buying it.  The only guy who scares me on the Washington offense is tight end Chris Cooley.  Cooley has hauled in 27 TDs over the past four years, but after him, I’m not really concerned with anyone else.

So this year when Marcus wants to rub in his team’s dominance, hopefully I can buy him a drink with my winnings and share in the moment.  Hopefully I can start the year off right.

Now if only I could find odds on the number of Eli Manning commercials that will air during the game...