Cuomo's Superbowl bet and Geno's NCAA pick

Happy Groundhog Day to all and yes of course our Forum bet on it, although there is some debate already as while Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow assuring us six more weeks of winter, here in NY our own Staten Island Chuck saw none; signaling an early spring.  Of course, before you get too excited, you have to realize that Chuck lives on Staten Island so he is usually shielded from the sun by huge piles of garbage.  Of course, while Groundhog Day proponents state that the rodent’s forecasts are accurate 75% to 90% of the time, the National Climatic Data Center differs, stating that the overall prediction accuracy rate is around 39% - placing the rodent a full percentage point behind Geno’s NFL Picks 2011 record - so maybe it’s best you not pack away that parka just yet. That said, all of this is overshadowed by the fact that Superbowl XVLI is a mere four days away and Geno’s Picks Superbowl Spectacular a mere 24 hours from you.  So let’s get some Superbowl fluff out of the way.

Everybody Bets

As has become the custom in big games like this, local politicians have made a bet as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo bet Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick that should the Giants lose, he will send 46 Cheesecakes bearing the Giants Helmet to Massachusetts food banks while, if the Pats fall, he’ll send “New England staples like clam chowder” to food banks in New York.  Really?  If ever there was another reason to love the G-men in this weekends game, it’s gotta be knowing a win supplies our homeless with a hearty meal of clam chowder to get them through the cold nights of winter not to mention if we lose you gotta believe people who have no food for dinner will feel a bit insulted by the fact that we are serving them a Cheesecake dessert.  As if enough people in Dallas aren’t sick of Jason Garret, now you can add another group of people to the list of people that hate him.  Had he simply won his week 17 game versus the G-men, the Cowboys could have easily been playing this Sunday.  Garrett not only cost his players a shot at a ring, but he cost the Boston homeless a shot at a steak dinner.  

Will The Pats Conk Out with Gronk Out?

How much a part of the offense is Rob Gronkowski? Get this; computer simulations for Super Bowl XLVI show that with Gronk in the game the Pats win 61.4% of the time by an average margin of 4.2 points.  Without Gronk, that number is drastically down to 51.2% and the average margin of victory to a mere 0.8 points. Gronk wasn’t kidding when he said “Yo soy fiesta.”   While our forum weighs in with their opinion and up to the minute updates, the fact of the matter is we can speculate all we want but I would be amazed if Gronkowski didn’t play Sunday. It’s not like he needs to practice considering how well he has this offense down and has already prepared once before for the Giants this season.  Trust me, he’ll play, special cleat or not and whether he does or not - once again this has been absolutely fantastic for the NFL’s ratings as people haven’t been this excited talking about the chance of a boot coming off since Nancy Sinatra back in 1966. (maybe that joke was just for Dad)

Geno’s NCAA Picks (1-0 ATS)

Duke -5 at Va. Tech  

Two things you need to know for this one: Coach K is livid that his team nearly blew its twenty point lead Saturday afternoon when it hosted St. Johns and last time these two teams played in Virginia last year, the Hokies upset then number one ranked Duke 64-60. Think both of these facts won’t be impressed upon the Dukies by coach K?  Look for a well disciplined game from the Blue Devils who may let the Hokies out to an early run fueled by the home court advantage, but will methodically reel them in and put them away in Blacksburg - or as it was called in the 40’s, “those people’s burg.”  If you don’t like this game, take these two great picks from tatddy but I say…

Blue Devils -5



Geno’s Picks: palooza tomorrow kids.