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By Dave Consolazio, September 14, 2010 10:52 pm

I’ve got a ton of work to get done this week; so much, in fact, that I probably don’t have the time to be writing THIS. But some of my friends have been a bit glum lately, and I’ve certainly been there plenty over the last year or so. When I get down, I’ve been using these two videos to cheer me up; hopefully they will serve you well.

1. Rocky Balboa – Life

“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can GET HIT and keep moving forward. How much you can TAKE, and keep moving forward. That’s how WINNING IS DONE! Now if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth, but you’ve gotta be willing to take the hits!”

Plenty of people know that Rocky Balboa’s character has inspired over the years, but the much more well-known video is Rocky triumphantly training with his theme song in the background.

In this gritty scene, Rocky really tells it how it is. It’s hard to hear sometimes; I think we all feel a little bit like the world is out to get us, and we are victims sometimes. But the message is an excellent one; take the hits, and keep moving forward! Persevere!

2. Ray Bourque Lifts the Cup (1:38 Mark)

“And after TWENTY-TWO YEARS… RAYMOND BOURQUE!”

A moment 22 years in the making, called perfectly by Gary Thorne. Many of sport’s all-time greats have played out their entire career without winning a championship. It’s similar to life, in that way; some of us may never get the break we hope and dream for.

But once again, it is all about persevering. Your big moment in life my elude you for a long time, and it may feel hopeless at times to continue on; but sometimes, at the end of the long and arduous road, if you keep your chin up and keep believing in yourself… you may someday finally be rewarded. Never give up!

I know this post may be a little tacky, but it’s important to try and stay positive and keep believing in yourself. I believe in you!

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By Dave Consolazio, September 13, 2010 10:32 pm

With two weeks of the young 2010 college football season in the books, I’ve had enough time to compile my Top-25, which I will update every week from this point forward. I don’t follow the logic that a team can’t move down in a week they win; the more I learn about these teams, the more I’m going to adjust their spots in the standings.

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By Dave Consolazio, September 13, 2010 5:14 am

Was watching live as Calvin Johnson made the spectacular catch that should have secured a victory for the Detroit Lions over the Chicago Bears. Unfortunately for Johnson and the Lions, the dreaded “must maintain possession through the process of the catch” rule nullified the touchdown, which led to a Bears victory.

While I feel for the Lions, I was shouting at the TV that they’d better not call that a touchdown. I was already familiar with the whole “process of the catch” rule. My Oakland Raiders got burned by the exact same rule in Week One of last season.

Admittedly, Johnson’s is a bit worse, as the ball hit the ground on what looked more like a secondary move. But both catches see the receiver in complete possession of the ball, in the endzone, with both feet planted on the ground. Both receivers, in complete possession of the ball, have their backside hit the ground. Both should have been touchdowns, but as the current rule is written, neither are.

The rule needs to be looked at, in my opinion. Doesn’t make sense to me that a running back can fall backwards into the endzone, break the plane, and then fumble the ball before he even hits the ground and be rewarded with a touchdown, while plays like this are not.  That said, I’m glad they stuck to the book and made the right call based on their own silly rule. Because the media may have forgotten about this Louis Murphy call last season, but I certainly haven’t.

Guessing Murphy hasn’t, either.

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By Dave Consolazio, September 9, 2010 2:34 am

Dave’s Dime
“Because Two Cents Just Isn’t Enough”

THE INTRO

(I will be posting a copy of the newsletter here on the site one day after I email it out. If you’d like to get it as soon as I email it out, email me at vegasdavesdime [at] gmail.com and let me know! I’ll add you to the list.)

Fooooooooooooooootball!

I really love World Cup soccer, and was happy to have a little futbol in my life this offseason, but nothing quite hits the spot like good ol’ NFL football.

Every team starts off 0-0. Fans around the country can all dream of trips to the Super Bowl.

Me? I just dream of six wins for the Raiders. It’s been seven years. Baby steps.

And speaking of seven years (how’s THAT for a seamless transition?), this is actually the DIME’s seventh year! Whether you are just joining in or have been a reader(/deleter) since ‘04, thank you all for the support. Oh, and if you’ve been reading since ‘04, wow. That’s some love right there. Or maybe it’s that can’t look away from a train wreck syndrome?

And speaking of train wrecks (oh my, he’s on fire!), last season didn’t go too hot, my first year ever with a losing record against the spread. Ironic that it came in my best year ever of picking winners without the spread. Go figure.

In any case, I’ve built myself a new home at http://www.davesdime.com, so when you have those midweek Davings (Dave + Cravings, see what I did there?), head there for old and new stuff.

What’s that? NO ONE ever gets those? Hmm. Maybe it’s all the Chipotle I’ve been eating.

But enough of this jibber-jabber; let’s get to football!

Continue reading “NFL Newsletter: Dave’s Dime Week 1” »

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By Dave Consolazio, September 8, 2010 7:59 pm

Georgia +3.5

Nebraska -28.0

Oregon -12.0

Ole Miss -20.5

USC -19.5

Florida Atlantic +28.5

Rice/North Texas Over 59.0

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By Dave Consolazio, September 7, 2010 6:05 pm

I’ve always appreciated and respected the art of good advertising.

If a company puts together a genuinely funny, interesting, or creative advertisement, I will give their product a look out of respect.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, if an advertisement is lousy to the point that it frustrates me, I will make it a point to avoid the product being advertised.

There are exceptions to both rules, as obviously you can’t let advertisements dictate your life. And 80-90% of commercials fall into the “meh” category anyway, inspiring no real emotion from me and thus having no effect on my likelihood or unlikelihood of buying a product. But I’ve seen and heard a couple of advertisements this week that have fallen on the wrong side of the fence, and they both shared a similar theme: The element of “fate”.

Continue reading “Dave Says: Don’t use “fate” as a reason why I should buy your product” »

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By Dave Consolazio, September 7, 2010 7:16 am

“BCS Busting”

Boise State 33 – Virginia Tech 30

My write-up for this section eventually became big enough to be it’s own article. Great game.

Pittsburgh 24 – Utah 27 (OT)

This will be Utah’s last year in the BCS busting business as they join the Pac-10 (soon to be the Pac-12) in 2011. One of many games that looked great on paper that didn’t disappoint in week one, Utah was able to pull off the win despite making far too many mistakes. This was thanks in large part to their defense, which held Heisman hopeful Dion Lewis to only 75 yards on 25 carries. A bit ridiculous that Utah didn’t enter the season ranked, but that should be remedied after this week. The win extended Utah’s streak to 18 straight wins at home.

Pittsburgh fans have nothing to be ashamed of. The Panthers played a great game, and Tino Sunseri showed a ton of poise when trailing to lead the team to tying it up. With Brian Kelly no longer on the sideline in Cincinnati, this Pittsburgh team is the team to beat in the Big East. Dion Lewis will have much better days.

Oregon State 21 – TCU 30

Lost a bit in the Boise State hype-machine is how excellent TCU is. Well known for their stingy defense, the Horned Frogs also have an extremely dangerous offense. A few throws Andy Dalton would love to have back kept Oregon State in the game, but the Beavers were on their heels for most of the game. I was impressed by the smash-mouth running ability of the Horned Frogs. TCU’s National Championship hopes might have been dashed for good with Boise State’s win over Virginia Tech, but they’ll have a chance to make a statement late in the season @Utah while Boise State is beating up on cupcakes.

Jacquizz Rodgers didn’t look to be his explosive self, but you can credit that to the TCU defense. Oregon State certainly didn’t do their record any favors in their out-of-conference scheduling of TCU and Boise State, but they should be well adjusted to competitive play when the conference schedule rolls around. Ryan Katz will need to be better if the Beavers are going to compete for the Pac-10 Title this year, but he did show some positive signs in the first half. Overall, it wasn’t a bad effort by the Beavers, and had that bad-snap-turned-safety not happened, it could have been even better.

FCS Upsets

Continue reading “College Football Opening Week Observations: BCS Busting and FCS Upsets” »

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By Dave Consolazio, September 7, 2010 4:35 am

Arguably the most anticipated game on the schedule for week one of the 2010 football season, the Boise State Virginia Tech game certainly didn’t disappoint. But while the game in and of itself was an extremely entertaining one that showed off the talents of both teams, all of the focus seems to be on the aftermath.

There is an awful lot of hate going around out there for the Boise State Broncos, but I think that people are targeting their hate in the wrong direction.

There are two main reasons, from what I’m gathering, that fans seem to hate Boise State.

Continue reading “Stop the Hate on Boise State” »

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By Dave Consolazio, September 1, 2010 9:42 pm

USC -20.5

Pittsburgh/Utah Under 49.5

Arizona -15.5

Oregon State +13.5

SMU/Texas Tech Over 60.5